


Wedded Bliss

by charmed92



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Marauders Time, Marriage Contracts, No Dark Lord, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2019-11-08 15:45:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 51,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17983991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmed92/pseuds/charmed92
Summary: Manchester 1976. Serena Prince couldn't suppress her tears. She had been engaged to her Hogwarts bully Sirius Black against her will due to some old Pureblood laws. She would have to marry him in the summer, otherwise, she would lose her magic. Her life was a true nightmare. Can two teenaged enemies make a marriage work without killing each other? AU Fem!Snape, no Dark Lord alive





	1. Prologue – Wedding dreams gone bad!

**Author's Note:**

> This story is rated M because it contains adult language, themes, and suggestions. It is set in the Marauders time in an AU world, where Lord Voldemort doesn't exist.
> 
> I don't own any characters, they all belong to J.K. Rowling.

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, July 1977

Serena Prince looked at her mirror stunned. The young woman facing her looked beautiful. Long luscious coal-black curls, popping obsidian eyes and rosy lips adorned her angular porcelain face. Her mum had worked a magical miracle on her appearance by applying her Make-up Charms and Hair-Curling Spell. She didn't recognize herself. She had transformed into a beautiful swan out of some ugly duck. Her cheeks were rosy thanks to some applied rogue, her skin looked flawless thanks to a porcelain Make-up foundation and her onyx eyes looked alluring thanks to some mascara and golden eyeshadow. The simple elegant white wedding dress combined an A-line organza silk skirt and a longsleeved lace top part with a V-cut back. She loved the floral pattern of her lace top part because it reminded her of a flowery meadow in spring. She had chosen a mix of roses, belladonna, and chrysanthemum for they were her favorite flowers.

Mrs. Malkins had designed this stunning dress according to her wishes, only using the finest materials and newest Fashion Spells. Serena had met her thrice to draw the sketches, select the materials and fit the gown. It fitted her like a second skin and accentuated her svelte figure as well as her subtle curves. It conjured up a nice cleavage making her Cup B breasts, that were normally hidden under baggy shirts, appear one cup bigger and it accentuated her slightly muscled back, that was normally hidden under her school robes, making it look like a diver's back. Mrs. Malkins had enchanted her bridal gown with an Anti-Ripping Charm, Water-Repelling Spell, Heat-Withstanding Charm, and Dirt-Repelling Spell to protect it against any environmental influences. Her mum Eileen had shed some tears when she had seen her in her wedding dress for the first time and whispered into her ear "You look like some fairytale princess, sweetheart" while caressing her cheek lovingly.

Serena had never before considered herself as beautiful because she had always been a plain Jane with her pale skin, lanky coal hair and slightly hooked nose. But today she had to agree with her mum for the young woman staring back at her in the mirror really looked like some princess. Her elegant diamond halo onyx engagement ring in white gold, that featured a cushion-cut black onyx surrounded by shimmering diamonds and flanked on shoulders by rows of eight diamonds on each side, sparkled on her right hand. Cushion-cut black onyx earrings in white gold, that were surrounded by shimmering diamonds, graced her ears and a cushion-cut black onyx and pavé-set diamond bracelet in white gold adorned her delicate right wrist. She loved her jewelry for her fiancé had designed it and gifted it to her on her 17th birthday as a symbol of his willingness to make their unwanted marriage work. Sure, her black onyx engagement ring was a Black family heirloom that he had presented to her on their engagement party on Christmas, but the other jewelry pieces had been designed by Sirius with her in mind.

He had chosen them because he knew of her weakness for black and he had expressed that they matched her mysterious onyx eyes. Although she had blushed, she couldn't help herself to roll her eyes and shake her head. Sirius had really thought that he could win her over with some sappy complements, puppy eyes and dashing smiles. She had seen him play his role as the Hogwarts' Casanova often enough to know his tricks and flirting technique. Sure, his gesture of designing jewelry for her warmed her heart and signaled her that he put some effort into improving their relationship. And she wasn't immune to his handsome looks and easy charm. But she couldn't forget the years of his bullying, taunting, and namecalling with a snap of her fingers. He had rejected her hope for friendship on the Hogwarts Express in their first year by labeling her evil for her hopes to be sorted into Slytherin. He had shattered her self-confidence and self-worth by calling her an ugly, slimy snake over and over again in the following school years. And he had triggered her anxiety and caused her physical and emotional pain by hexing her with his Marauders every chance he got.

The feelings of loneliness, worthlessness, and helplessness had been her steady friend in her childhood and teenage years. Her Muggle dad Tobias had loathed her for being a witch and insulted her as a useless little demon without a brain. Without the love and protection of her mum Eileen, she would have grown up as an unloved, unwanted child and possibly been beaten to death by her alcoholic dad. Thankfully, her mum had told her every day how special she was, taught her everything about the magical world and praised her for her intelligence. Therefore, she hadn't felt totally unloved and worthless. But Tobias' words kept festering away on her soul and every sneer from her Muggle classmates or reprimand from her Muggle teachers had etched itself into her memory. On darker days she believed Tobias' words and felt utterly depressed. Although Lily's friendship had helped her to cope better with her depressing thoughts and self-confidence issues, she had been still very vulnerable to the judgment of other people.

Luckily for her, her mum had left Tobias some months before she had been due to go to Hogwarts because he had tried to intercept her Hogwarts' letter and had threated to make her life a living hell if she went to Hogwarts. Eileen had had enough of his verbal abuse, alcohol addiction and misery, wiped his memory of his wife and daughter and left Spinner's End in the company of her daughter with their meager possessions. Although she had been ashamed of her failed marriage and bad life choices, she had decided to face her parents, swallow her pride and ask them for help. Thankfully, her grandparents had welcomed them with open arms, furnished a manor wing for them and helped Eileen to get re-integrated into the Wizarding world.

Serena loved her grandparents because they were kind, generous and intelligent people who spoiled her rotten and taught her new magical spells every day. But they were also responsible for her unwanted marriage to her Hogwarts bully Sirius Black. Months after her mum's birth, they had signed a binding marriage contract with Sirius' grandparents. It entailed that Eileen would have to marry their son Orion when she turned seventeen. Alas, Eileen didn't honor the contract and ran away into the Muggle world where she fell in love with Tobias. Enraged by her actions but still aiming to combine the bloodlines of the Blacks and Princes, Sirius' grandparents had drafted a new contract. They agreed to wed the first son of Orion with Eileen's first daughter and installed a Binding Charm in the contract. If one of their grand-children sabotaged their deal, he/she would lose all her magical power. He/she would be forced to live a life in the Muggle world without any asses to their magical energies.

Hence, Serena couldn't back out of this marriage. Although she felt like crying on the supposedly happiest day of her life, she would not cause a scandal and act like a runaway bride. She couldn't disappoint her grandparents and certainly wouldn't survive a life without her magic. Her magical energies buzzed through her veins, made her feel powerful and complete. If she lost them, it would be like cutting out her heart and living in darkness. She loved to create new spells or invent new potions. She dreamed of becoming the youngest Potions' Mistress in Britain and earning a Master's degree in spellcrafting. She knew that she could live out her dreams with hard work, dedicated studies, and a creative mind. Thankfully, her fiancé Sirius respected her plans for her future and didn't intervene with them. He had vowed to support her and to not stop her from getting a higher education and working for Prince Potions. Naturally, she wouldn't have reacted too kindly to any attempt of cutting off her dreams. But in the patriarchal Wizarding world, her husband would be able to stipulate her life choices to her. He could force her to be an uneducated trophy wife, who would have to bear him at least two male children – an heir and a spare – and act as an elegant society lady by throwing balls and collecting donations to charity.

Sure, Sirius knew that he wouldn't be able to turn her into a submissive housewife and has decided to not waste his energies on some pity fights. She couldn't deny that he has put some real efforts in his promises to get to know and treat her better in the last months. He has apologized for his bullying actions in their past, stopped the cruel pranks and unfair attacks of the Marauders and even shared his study sessions with her. To her astonishment, they had somehow become friends. Not close friends who told each other every single secret, but friends who were in the first stages of their friendship trying to get to know each other and looking forward to spending time together.

Serena couldn't deny that Sirius was a charming, handsome and intelligent young man who told entertaining stories, made all girls in Hogwarts swoon and aced at Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. She enjoyed their lively passionate debates about new defensive spells and his funny jokes. But she couldn't erase his bullying and namecalling out of her memory. It still festered at her heart and made her afraid of their marriage. Perhaps, he was only putting up the act of the remorseful, attentive fiancé right now and would be verbally abusive to her in their marriage, a dark voice whispered inside her head. Hell, she even had nightmares about an enraged Sirius that insulted her looks, belittled her magical powers and treated her like his house-elf. In her sane mind, she knew that Sirius wouldn't treat her like trash. But in her darkest hours, she couldn't suppress her fears and bad memories. She would have to deal with them and talk to her husband about them. But she was still too afraid of his rejection to open up to him. She hoped that she could be honest and real to him with time.

Most girls at Hogwarts envied her for her luck to marry the dashing Black heir. When the Daily Prophet run the story about their engagement, they had looked at her with hateful glares, pitied Sirius for his bad luck and called her an ugly Potions obsessed know-it-all behind her back. Thankfully, her best friend and future brother-in-law Regulus Black as well as her fiancé Sirius had defended her by hexing every jealous witch and urging them to stop their lies. With his mischievous grey eyes, dark brown locks, Greek god-like facial features, dashing smile and muscular body, Sirius was the epitome of a heartthrob. His reckless attitude, charming personality and daring pranks only magnified his attraction, so that most girls in Hogwarts dreamed of their wedding to Prince Charming. She had never been one of them but thanks to some old pure-blood contract, she would be Mrs. Black soon.

Sure, she had also shared phantasies of her dream wedding with her best friend Lily. She had always dreamed of walking down the aisle in a stunning bridal gown in front of her friends and family, enjoying a delicious meal and throwing an epic party. But the key wish in her dreams had been to marry the man she loved. And she didn't love Sirius. Hence, despite her unique custom-made dress, beautiful jewelry and lovely bridal bouquet – a beautiful arrangement of cream-colored roses, belladonnas, and chrysanthemum – she felt hollow inside. Although her mum had organized a dream wedding with a lavish buffet, classical music orchestra and magnificent firework she couldn't be happy on her wedding day. Looking with sad obsidian eyes onto the reflection of this stunning, foreign-looking bride, Serena asked herself how her wedding dreams could have gone so bad.


	2. Chapter 1 – Home sweet home!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena Prince hurled her Hogwarts trunk with the help of two house-elves inside of her Manor. It was snowing outside and an icy wind swept through her coal black hair. She was glad that she had listened to Lily and put on her green and silver Slytherin scarf, bobble hat, and gloves. Clad in a warm cozy rosé sweatshirt, warm blue denim jeans, and her favorite berry overcoat, she had been dressed for the icy winter temperatures. She loved coming home to Prince Manor during her winter hols because she liked spending time with her beloved mum, humorous stepdad, cute toddler twin siblings and her kind grandparents. Sometimes she couldn't fathom how much her life had changed since 1971.

Her mum had left her abusive husband Tobias, erased all his memories of them and reconciled with her parents, Augustus and Aurelia Prince. They had welcomed their daughter and granddaughter with open arms, happy to see them back to being full members of Wizarding society and free of the evil madness and poverty of Spinner's End. Serena had been awed by the old royal looking Manor, its huge colorful garden, and magnificent potions lab. She couldn't comprehend that her mum hadn't found the courage to move back to her parents sooner. Sure, she had been in love with Tobias and he had been an attentive dad to her until she showed her first signs of magic as a nine-months-old, but after that their lives at Spinner's End had been a true hell. Her mum hadn't informed him about her magical powers and the Wizarding world until then, for she had feared his rejection.

Tobias had been a faithful Christ who believed in the Holy Bible and worked as an engineer in the local Automobile Industry of Cokeworth. His mum had met him shortly after leaving the Wizarding world without any education and only her most treasured possessions and some Muggle money stuffed inside of an extendable bag in 1957. They met in a Muggle pub where Tobias had been watching a football game and Eileen worked as a barmaid. She had been lucky enough that some old kind woman, Mrs. Lowell, had taken pity on the run-away girl and offered her a room to stay and a job to earn some money without asking questions. Therefore, she had worked at her pub, "The Green Leaf", for three months.

Although she missed her loving parents and the adventures of the Wizarding world, she didn't regret her decision of running away, for she wouldn't have survived in a loveless marriage with Orion Black. Sure, she had exchanged living in her ancient Manor to living in a single-room-apartment, finishing her magical education to working behind the bar in some Muggle pub and living the lavish lifestyle of the upper class to living a lonely life of a poor teenager, but she wouldn't change any of it for the sole reason of living a self-independent, free life. The crowd of "The Green Leaf" was a mix of middle-aged male workers who tried to forget the horrors of the Muggle war with some beers and a match of football, young teenagers who enjoyed their first beers pleasantly chatting to their peers about their daily life issues and mid-twenty students who enjoyed a cheap, all English meal with some beers inside of the pub.

Tobias had chatted her up at the bar, flirted shamelessly with her and tried to impress her with his studies in electrical engineering at some renown Muggle University. Although she had been flattered by his attention and his handsome looks – he had stunning sapphire eyes, neatly cut dark-drown hair and a nice smile -, Eileen couldn't be impressed by his talks about cars and electricity, for she didn't know anything about Muggle science. Thence, she pretended to understand what he was talking about, praised him for his ambitious future plans and asked him about his hobbies to stay clear from his studies. But her plan didn't work out, for he spotted her lies as he explained how a car engine worked. He laughed good-heartedly about her false pretense and explained that many girls didn't know anything about cars or electrical procedures, but acted like they understood what he was talking about to impress him. Eileen was glad that her white lies didn't seem to bother Tobias and chatted with him pleasantly.

Sure, she created a fake identity for herself to get to know him. She was Eileen Prince, a seventeen years old orphaned teenaged girl who had escaped from her orphanage some months ago and worked as a barmaid to make some money. She loved reading classical English and American literature and chemistry for she liked experimenting with foreign substances and creating something new. She would have loved to study chemistry at a University, but she didn't have any money to pay her study fees or any A level, because she had to change schools very often thanks to different foster families that had rejected her in the end for being the odd one out. Thence, she had decided to get a job that would pay her bills and was grateful that Mrs. Lowell had hired her at her pub and even rented a little one-room-apartment to her for a fair rent.

She learned that Tobias loved to read technical non-fiction books, to play and watch football – he was a Manchester United fan – and to repair some old, broken cars. His family was a religious working-class family from Leeds and proud of his achievements. He financed his studies with tuition jobs, money from a wealthy aunt and odd jobs in his neighborhood. Noticing the angry glare of Mrs. Lowell for her flirting with Tobias, Eileen decided to focus on her other customers. But before she could move away from him, Tobias asked her out on a cinema date. She didn't know what the cinema was, but she expected it to be some illusional theatre where you could watch moving pictures. She agreed to his date, went on many dates with him in the following months and fell in love with this kind, honest and enthusiastic Muggle. She thought that he could be her chance to start fresh and live a free and ordinary life in the Muggle world. He proposed to her on their first year anniversary during an Italian candle-light dinner date and they married three months later. Moving into a six-room cottage in Cokeworth's industrial area, where Tobias had managed to get a job as an engineer, they lived blissful months full of love, adventures, and laughter.

Eileen knew that she wasn't honest with her husband and kept living a lie, for she kept silent about her magical powers. But she couldn't face being rejected by her husband. And she knew that his faith and belief in science wouldn't allow him to see the miracles of the Magical world. He would probably call her a demon, accuse her of bewitching him and loathe her devilish powers. Therefore, she hid her magical identity from him, although she used her wand frequently for enacting some Household Spells or conjuring her Patronus, a cute-looking energetic vixen because she loved to feel the magic rushing through her veins. Naturally, she only cast some spells when Tobias was away at work and with a magical security system in action that would inform her of any approaching Muggle. Sometimes, her bad conciseness kept nagging at her, but she didn't see another way to keep her happy life.

When she had been pregnant with Serena, Eileen knew right away, that her little bean would be magical, for she could feel her magical energies interlocking with her own. She realized that Tobias's confrontation with the magical world would be inevitable because her little girl would have outbursts of accidental magic. But she couldn't destroy her happy dream world while being pregnant. Tobias loved that he was going to be a dad, fulfilled her every wish and furnished a beautiful nursery for their little girl. He had painted the walls in a sunny yellow, decorated them with images of flowers and animals, and bought a vintage looking beech crib with a matching changing table, cupboard, and two shelves. He had hung up a beautiful butterfly mobile above the crib, stuffed the changing table with diapers, wet wipes, creams and baby powder, filled the cupboard with cute crawlers, onesies, shirts, trousers and dresses and stuffed one shelf with children's books while the other had been filled with a teddy bear, building blocks, cars, and dolls.

Eileen had been blown away by the love and thoughtfulness he had put into creating a dream nursery for their little princess, hugged him tightly and kissed him passionately on the lips. Tobias had returned her kisses, caressed her growing eight-month bump and talked animatedly to their daughter. He kept insisting that she could hear his voice inside of Eileen's bump and that his little chats would strengthen their father-daughter-relationship. Eileen fell deeper in love with him every second of her pregnancy. They had decided to name their daughter Serena Elena Snape because she would be the light of their lives.

On an icy winter morning on January 9th, 1960, their sunshine took her first breath in a Muggle hospital. Although her childbirth had been a 12-hour torture trip, Eileen forgot every pain as she looked into her daughter's dark-brown eyes and caressed her soft coal black hair. She looked so much like a true Prince witch that it nearly broke her heart and let her wish that her parents could have been present on this special day. But she didn't regret her choice to leave the Wizarding world for it enabled her to fall in love with the man of her dreams and to give birth to this true princess. The only features she had inherited from her father were her slightly hooked nose and his high cheekbones. Tobias had gazed at his daughter in awe, held her like a delicate china doll and promised her to always love her. But his love hadn't been strong enough to accept her magical powers.

When his nine-month-old daughter let her building blocks dance in the air, Tobias had been terrified and called Eileen to get some help. Eileen had only looked proudly at her daughter and confessed everything to Tobias about the magical world. At first, Tobias had laughed hysterically and urged her to stop her prank, but when she had summoned Serena's teddy bear into her arms with a flick of her wand, his face blanched, his eyes widened and he called her a demon. He accused her of being mentally ill and bewitching their daughter with her devilish powers. He forced her to never speak about her delusions again, to stop infecting Serena with her witchy stuff and vowed to never trust her again. From this time onwards, he didn't touch his wife gently, didn't say "I love you" and stayed away from his daughter out of fear. Over the years, he had developed an alcohol addiction, insulted his wife and daughter as demons and lost his well-paid job so that he had to work as a coal miner in Cokeworth. Eileen hadn't been able to leave him until he forbade Serena to go to Hogwarts. That was the last call for her. She left him and erased herself and her daughter from his mind.

Being lost in memories of the sad life story of her mum and her miserable childhood in Spinner's End, Serena bearly noticed two dark-haired hurricanes with stunning emerald eyes jumping into her arms. "Serena, Serena. You are home, " they shouted excitedly at her and kissed her cheeks with their little mouths. She could bearly keep her balance, but beamed at her little twin siblings and ruffled their dark locks. "Hello, munchkins. I have missed you so much and I am happy to have a cuddle session with you. How much you have grown since September! I don't know what the house-elves are feeding to you, but you grow like weeds. What mischief have you two managed to accomplish without me, Silas and Aurora?" Serena asked in a playful voice.

She adored her three-year-old siblings. They were so funny, sweet and daring that she loved them with all her heart. Looking sheepish, Aurora formed her tiny hands into a pipe and whispered into her ear, "We turned daddy's folders with the numbers into slugs, because we wanted to play with him. He reprimanded us but praised us for our magical talent. You should have seen his face – turning angry in one second, breaking out into laughter the next!" Aurora giggled sweetly. Serena loved her stepdad, Sebastian MacMillan, a Ravenclaw graduate who worked for Prince Potions as a lawyer and had been her mum's best friend at Hogwarts, for he made her mum laugh, was a loving father to his children and treated her like an adult. She had been so happy to witness their marriage after a whirlwind romance four years ago.

Silas played with her warm Slytherin scarf and exclaimed, "We have also transfigured mum's old silver cauldron into a box full of spiders to scare her. You should have heard her piercing shriek. It was so funny. But our punishment – a whole week without flying – has been hard for us! Come, Serena. Put your cloak down and let me show our new adventure room to you. It's really wicked!" Silas shouted loudly and ran in the direction of their playroom. Shaking her head, Serena hung her coat and winter accessories on their wardrobe, took her sister's little hand into her own and walked with her to their playroom while listening to tales about their pranks. How much she loved being home again.


	3. Chapter 2 – The Fab Five of Hogwarts!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena loved her little twin siblings' new adventure room. It was a dream come true for any fun-loving and adventure-seeking kid. She knew that her stepdad Sebastian had created it to stimulate the fantasia and magical powers of Silas and Aurora. They could be kids in here, test out their magic and act out their dreams. Her eyes had widened seeing the magicked forest with a treehouse, cave and flowery meadow where the twins could climb around and discover their environment. Naturally, Sebastian had integrated a hollow tree full of pictured books, learning toys and coloring books inside their adventure room, so that his children could learn while playing. Her mum Eileen had undoubtedly insisted on the twins' potions lab that was hidden beside the cave, for Silas loved to experiment with harmless substances and mix his very own potions. A cuddling corner with stuffed fantastic beasts and books about their care had undoubtedly been created for Aurora because she loved to learn more about fantastic beasts and Newt Scamander was her absolute hero.

Serena had created a new Flying Potion out of Silas's mixtures with his help while explaining its properties to him and had read a story about the adventures of a Thunderbird to Aurora when their mum Eileen's head pocked smiling brightly through the opened door. She couldn't believe how much better her mum looked compared to their miserable years at Spinner's End. Her coal black hair looked healthy and was styled into a practical long bob, her heart-shaped face glowed with happiness and her obsidian eyes sparkled like the stars in the night sky. She had gained some weight, looking fit and healthy, and was dressed in a simple royal-blue midi satin dress.

"Serena, my love. I didn't know that you were already back from Hogwarts. I guess you ditched saying "hello" to your old mum for playing with these two little rascals? Did everything go well on the Hogwarts Express? No sugar-induced vomiting from first years or jealousy-inspired catfights?" her mum asked, stepping in front of her and enveloping her in a bear hug. She loved these tight hugs from her mum, for they made her feel cherished, safe and loved. She breathed in her mum's violet and cinnamon scent, hugged her back tightly and gifted her with a smirk.

"Mum, you are looking good and you aren't some old lady. 36 isn't old for Wizarding standards. You are barely in your adolescence, for Merlin's sake. These two little thunderstorms accosted me in the entry hall, telling me everything about their pranks and begging me with puppy eyes to go into their new adventure room. How should I have been able to resist these charmers? I must admit that Sebastian outdid himself with this room. It's a child's dream come true and I bet that they are envied by their friends for it. But please, don't spoil them too much, otherwise, they will turn out to be some arrogant, spoiled brats like Lucius Malfoy and Priscilla Parkinson.

"The ride back home on the Hogwarts Express has been as chaotic as ever, but I have managed to snatch a free compartment with Regulus, Christopher, Emilia, and Lily. We chatted about our holiday plans, learning schedules and Christmas wishes the whole ride, it was as funny and pleasant as always. Sure, Lily and I needed to comfort some candy-sick first years or reprimand some loud fighting fourth years, but it was a lovely ride. Even the Marauders only tried to hex us once with some Tickling Curse, but we have managed to block it and drive them away. They really are some first-class immature idiots! Did you know that Regulus' family also plans on going on a skiing trip to St. Moritz? I hope that Regulus and I can meet up there and chase down some ski runs together. As long as we can avoid the git Sirius, everything should be fun."

Serena didn't see how her mum's face paled slightly at her words. Eileen suppressed the urge to blurt her secrets out to her daughter, caressed her cheek lovingly and exclaimed, "I'm proud that you and Lily take your responsibilities as Prefects so seriously, my love. I know how chaotic a train ride can get when the Candy lady hands out vomit-inducing Sugar Quills to the whole train. That's not an experience you want to repeat. But Orion Black thought that it would be funny to jinx the whole train in our fifth year. I know that he didn't laugh about it anymore after his dad Arcturus banned him from Quidditch for the rest of the year. It seems that Sirius has inherited his cruel sense of humor and bullying tendencies. I wish that he and his band of arrogant fools would stop bullying you and your friends. But children – especially teenaged, hormone-crazy boys – can be cruel sometimes. I'm only glad that you and your friends protect each other against their attacks. How Regulus managed to turn out to be such a polite, sweet and intelligent boy, I'll never know.

"I'm aware that the Blacks will be in St. Moritz at the same time as us. Believe me, I'm not looking forward to meeting the cooky fool Orion or his gossip-crazy wife Walburga again. I know that they talk bad behind my back about my life choices and loathe the influence of our family, but St. Moritz is big enough to not have to endure their company the whole time. And I'm relieved that Regulus can explore the ski runs with you, for I fear for your safety. But let's not waste our time talking about the Blacks. I have baked your favorite cinnamon cookies and can't wait to hear if I have managed to improve my recipe. So, come on, let's go to the kitchen."

Serena witnessed how her mum searched for the twins in their tree house, caught them laughing madly at a bright green painted rooftop and carried them out of their hidden place. She shook her head at their silly display and chased them down to the kitchen. She couldn't fathom how much their lives had changed for the better due to their grandparents, Sebastian, and the twins. Eileen was now a happily married mum of three who worked as a potions consultant for Prince Potions and enjoyed to paint landscape paintings in her free-time. Sometimes she caught herself wishing that her mum would have never left the Wizarding world and fallen in love with Tobias Snape. Perhaps, she would have married Sebastian right-out of Hogwarts, studied to be a Potions Mistress and had four kids later on.

She knew that thinking like this wasn't healthy, for she wouldn't exist if her mum hadn't run away from home at sixteen and married the Muggle engineer Tobias Snape. But the dark memories of his violent outbursts and hurtful insults – "You're no daughter of mine. You're the devil!" – still hunted her dreams. And these feelings of being not good enough or worthless still lingered in the back of her mind and came forward whenever the Marauders bullied her. She was so lucky to have her amazing support system of friends at Hogwarts, that she thanked her lucky stars every night for meeting them. They protected each other against the attacks of the Marauders, talked honestly about their fears, hopes and dreams and spend every spare minute at Hogwarts listening to music, playing games or chilling around.

Their teachers called them "The Hogwarts Fab Five" because they were a mixed-house group of friends that tried to reduce the animosity between the houses and fought for a strong inter-houses Hogwarts community. She loved Lily Evans, her red-headed green-eyed Gryffindor childhood friend, who excelled in Charms and dreamed of becoming a Charms professor, for her kind nature and strong sense of justice. She always had an open ear for her issues - listening to her and giving out advice without judging her - and founded an "Anti-Bullying Club" at Hogwarts that helped survivors of bullying to get stronger and fight back against their bullies. She loved Regulus Black, her brown-haired blue-eyed Slytherin housemate, who was a genius in Ancient Runes and dreamed of becoming a curse-breaker, for his silly jokes that managed to make her smile when she felt like crying and his fight for magical creatures and house-elves. He had convinced his dad Orion to start a political campaign in the Ministry that allowed house-elves to be paid. The improved rights and laws for house-elves had been passed in the Wizengamont two months ago.

She loved Christopher Goldstein, her dark-haired brown-eyed Ravenclaw friend, who excelled at Arithmetic and dreamed of becoming a financial adviser, for his brilliant mind and easy-going nature. He always challenged her in intellectual debates and founded a "Hogwarts Debate Club" that created a sense of community in Hogwarts and debated common issues like house prejudices. She loved Emilia Bones, her blond-haired blue-eyed Hufflepuff friend, who was a genius in Herbology and dreamed of becoming a healer, for her protective care of others and her practical way of thinking. She always fixed her up after a run-in with the Marauders and founded a "First-Aid-Club" at Hogwarts that trained students in administering first aid and created a new sense of care and humanity inside of Hogwarts.

Serena wouldn't exchange her tight-knitted net of friends for any money in the world and hoped that their efforts would change Hogwarts into a welcoming community for everyone. Walking through the corridors of Prince Manor, she noticed how privileged she truly was. She didn't need to worry about going hungry to bed, wearing hand-me-downs or not being able to go on vacations because her wealthy pure-blooded family could afford anything they wanted. Their home was furnished with vintage high-quality furniture, valuable rugs, and modern art paintings as well as sculptures. They paid twenty house-elves that washed their clothes, prepared their meals, cleaned their rooms and mowed their lawn. Thanks to their inherited wealth and their renowned company Prince Potions, that has been the leading potions enterprise in Europe for centuries and specialized in researching new cures and potions as well as developing time- and ingredients-saving brewing techniques, they could live the comfortable life of the upper class. They vacationed in St. Moritz, St. Tropez and the Bahamas, dressed in high-quality clothes and donated money to St. Mungo's or other charity societies.

Sometimes her life seemed like a surreal dream universe to her. She was grateful for the opportunities the money of her family gifted to her, but she vowed to herself to never act like a spoiled brat and strut arrogantly through Hogwarts. She wanted to treat all people with kindness, regardless of their social status or family background. Thanks to her down-to-earth upbringing, her mum had taught her values like tolerance, politeness, honesty, kindness, and gratitude. She wanted to be open-minded and help to make the world a better place. Chuckling to herself about her lofty goals, Serena fixed herself a dish full of cinnamon cookies and devoured them.

"Wow, mum. You outdid yourself. These cookies taste so delicious, the Hogwarts elves wouldn't have been able to bake them better," she exclaimed with a dreamy sigh. Eileen only rolled her eyes and reprimanded her for her lacking table manners. "You should have learned how to eat by now, Serena. What should your siblings think? They will copy your table manners and all my teachings about eating slowly in a composed manner will be for naught. So, please, apply your manners at dinner later on. You shouldn't eat too many cookies, for we will eat in an hour. Our house-elves prepared your favorite meal to welcome you back – roast goose with dumplings and baked vegetables."

"Oh, that's so sweet. I'll say thank you to them after dinner. But I should probably go to my rooms now and unpack my Hogwarts trunk. See you later, little munchkins." Serena ruffled the dark locks of her siblings, ignored their annoyed huffs and walked into the direction of her rooms. The rooms of her parents, herself and her siblings were situated in the huge left wing of Prince Manor. Chasing down the corridors, Serena passed the study of her granddad Augustus and the library of her grandma Aurelia as well as the stairs that led one into their potions lab in the dungeons. She spent almost every spare minute in the potions lab experimenting on how to improve some potions' recipes or how to develop new cures and practical potions. She loved mixing the different tinctures, animal parts, and minerals and liked testing out ancient brewing methods or time-saving ingredient preparing techniques. She aimed to become the youngest Potions Mistress of Great Britain and dreamed about finding a cure for Lycanthropy and Dragon Pox.

Opening the door of her turquoise and grey colored room, Serena rushed inside and jumped on her plushy dark oak four-poster bed. Their house-elves had magicked her trunk on the soft turquoise rug in front of her bed. She had refurnished her room according to her wishes last year. A huge four-door dark oak cupboard stood on the right side of her bed, a vintage dark oak bedside table decorated with a framed magical picture of her Hogwarts friends and a simple lamp stood on the left side of her bed and a dark oak writing desk with ink bottles, paper and quills stood in front of a huge window on the right back side of her room. Three huge dark oak books shelves containing classical English and American literature books, Potions tomes, and works on Defense the Dark Arts and Charms covered the wall on the left side of her door. A plushy dark turquoise armchair and floor lamp were situated beside the shelves in the front left corner of her room to read any book comfortably.

Next to her reading corner was a floor window that led to her own balcony. A place that she frequented regularly in the summer, lounging in a comfortable grey armchair and gazing into the night sky with her telescope. On the left side of her balcony, a dark oak vintage make-up table stuffed with lipsticks, lipgloss, mascara, eyeshadow, rogue, make-up, and perfume had been placed. Sure, Serena wasn't a girly girl that plastered her face with make-up. But she liked putting on some natural make-up and perfume. Therefore, she loved sitting on her plushy grey dark oak stool and experimenting with some Make-up Charms. In the back left corner of her room stood a dark oak shelf containing a Grammophon and records, for she loved listening to magical and Muggle music. Besides her music corner was a door that led into her own en-suite bathroom. The only other item in her room was a potions cabinet that contained her personal potions storage room due to an Undetected-Extendable Charm.

She loved her room, for its walls were covered with moving pictures of her best friends, framed pictures of potions ingredients and a mixed scent of belladonnas and vanilla lingered in the air. Her mum has instructed the house-elves to always put a vase with fresh belladonnas on her writing desk and light a vanilla scented candle because Serena loved belladonnas and vanilla. Looking at the smiling faces and waving hands of her best friends, Serena missed them terribly already. But she also enjoyed coming home because she could experiment on her potions and spend time with her family. Hopping up from her bed after some minutes of lounging, she sorted her stored items with some simple spells from her trunk into her cupboard and shelves because she would be expected at dinner in 20 minutes.


	4. Chapter 3 – Christmas Hols from Hell!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena stepped with a big smile on her face into their huge dining room. The table was set with expensive porcelain, silverware, and glasses and decorated in a festive sense. Huge silver candelabras with green candles, thick dark green napkins arranged in an artful manner and flower arrangements of pine branches, winter roses, and poinsettia graced the ancient, long dark oak dining table. Seven vintage dark oak chairs with plushy dark green upholstery were placed around the table. The only humans that were already seated around the table were Augustus and Aurelia Prince. They whispered to each other in hushed voices and her grandma seemed to disapprove of her granddad's words, for she shook her head and argued with him in a raised voice.

Augustus Prince, a regal looking man in his sixties with neat grey hair, intelligent obsidian eyes and a slightly crooked nose, wore a dark grey suit with a dark green shirt and green-silver striped tie. His inherited golden pocket watch pocked out of his trouser pocket and his white gold Prince ring emboldened with an emerald placate picturing the Prince coat of arms – a potions vial stored in the mouth of an owl – sparkled on his right hand. He tried to soothe his wife with a reassuring squeeze of her hand and a dark glare. Aurelia Prince, a blonde green-eyed beauty in her late fifties, who had been sorted into Ravenclaw in Hogwarts and was a member of the ancient noble Fawley family, wore a bordeaux long-sleeved midi cocktail dress. Her white gold wedding band – a solitaire Ruby surrounded by three rows of diamonds – gleamed on her left hand and matching Ruby earrings, a bracelet and a necklace graced her skin. She couldn't be intimidated or calmed down by her husband's soothing touches and glare, but when she noticed Serena approaching, she stopped their argument immediately and put an honest smile on her face.

"Serena, my dear. I'm so glad to see you back at Prince Manor looking healthy and relaxed. Hogwarts doesn't seem to be taxing for you. I can't wait to hear all about the actions you and your friends got on the way to make Hogwarts an including, unbiased by Houses prejudices community. You must tell me everything about the efforts of "The Hogwarts Fab Five" tomorrow morning during tea time with your dear old grandma. But step near me now, sweetheart, so that I can give you a tight hug," Aurelia addressed her granddaughter in a kind voice.

Serena, who had changed into a violet midi lace dress and put on her gifted Amethyst earrings, necklace, and bracelet, that had been gifted to her from her grandparents last Christmas, walked with reassuring steps to her grandma, kissed her on her cheeks and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"I'm so happy to see you are in good health, grandma. I was so relieved to hear that you survived the Dragon Pox episode without major scarring. I'll gladly tell you everything about our newest efforts to change the atmosphere at Hogwarts. Although we founded many inter-houses clubs and started an "Anti-Bullying Campaign" you know how thick and set in their opinions some children can be. Therefore, house prejudices are still sadly at large in Hogwarts. But we will continue on working to reduce them. I can't wait to hear all about your newest charity projects. Have you already send out the invitations for your famous New Year gala?" Serena asked her grandma in a happy tone.

"Of course, my dear. Every well-respected family of the Wizarding community has already received one. You know how much these charity events mean to me and I would never put their success into jeopardy with a delayed invitation. This year we will be collecting money for children of poor families who aren't able to afford the school supplies of Hogwarts on their own. An organization team, including your mum, our house-elves and I, has already planned everything to the last detail. We hope to collect a new record sum. I will gladly present our concept during our tea time to you," Aurelia reassured her granddaughter.

Serena suppressed to roll her eyes. Naturally, her perfectionist grandma had already finished planning the event weeks ago. She didn't envy her mum, for Aurelia Prince could be a strict neurotic general while planning her social events. Her musings were interrupted by the deep baritone voice of her granddad, who nudged her playfully in the side and chuckled, "Aurelia, don't bore Serena to death with your social events. I appreciate that you do so much for other people and represent our family perfectly, the glowing reports about your lavish charity events are a big element of our good reputation and a huge boost to the sells of Prince Potions, but I'm certain, that it's only a boring topic for a teenaged girl." Augustus ignored the angry huff of his wife and went on, "Serena, my dear. I expect that your grades in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts are as high as ever? Old Sluggy praises your creativeness and grace in Potions the whole time in our talks. He argues that you are the best student he has ever taught, but I guess that should be expected by the Prince's inherited brilliance in brewing. Did you manage to create any new potions? I can't wait to discuss your experiments with you."

Serena blushed at the praise of her granddad. She knew that she was considered to be a genius in Potions, but to hear Augustus Prince, the CEO of Prince Potions and youngest Potions Master of Great Britain, who had developed a cure for the Chicken Cold and invented a more effective version of the Blood-Replenishing Potion, ask her about her potions experiments, boosted her self-confidence and warmed her heart. She loved that he treated her like a competent researcher, discussed new brewing techniques with her and allowed her to test her experiments out in their professional potions lab.

Hugging him gently around his middle, she answered in a playful voice, "You're too sweet, grandpa. You know that I would never let my Potions' or Defense Against the Dark Arts' grades slip, for I aim to supersede you at being the youngest human with a Potions Master's degree in Great Britain. I loathe how Professor Slughorn tries to collect me into his club of favorites from wealthy families. He should really further everyone's talent in Potions regardless of their family background, because he only achieves to butter up the wealthy Pure-bloods and to discourage everyone else. This isn't helpful for creating a new sense of community inside of Hogwarts. But let's not get into a debate about Professor Slughorn's character. I have actually managed to develop a faster working Anti-Headache Potion and to invent a new Focus-Regaining Potion. I'll brew them in our lab tomorrow, explain their composition and present my trails to you. I'm also currently reading on some ancient brewing techniques that could possibly reduce the brewing time of most potions. I'll discuss everything with you tomorrow afternoon."

Augustus looked with a proud look sparkling in his obsidian eyes in awe at his granddaughter. "Serena, I can't wait to test out your new potions. If they are working as you promise, we should patent them immediately and brew them in large batches to sell them in our company. You will certainly be paid handsomely for your inventions. I'll arrange that all profits from the selling and a fair sum for your creative work will be deposited in your Gringotts' account. You really are a true genius, my sweetheart," he gushed.

Serena thanked him for his praises with a quick kiss on his cheek and seated herself gracefully on the chair beside her grandma. Before she could deepen her chat with her grandparents, loud giggles and steps could be heard and her young twin siblings Silas and Aurora rushed into the room. Looking sheepishly on the dark glare of their grandfather and slowing down her pace, Aurora, who wore a sapphire princess dress, placed herself as silently as possible on the chair at Serena's left side. Seeing her chubby legs trying to climb gracefully on her chair, Serena suppressed a chuckle with trouble. Aurora smiled sweetly at her grandparents and voiced in a sugar-sweet tone, "I'm sorry for running through the halls, grandpa. I'll refrain myself from doing it again."

Silas, who wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt and blue-silver stripped tie, lounged himself down on the plushy chair opposite his twin sister and smiled cunningly. "I'm also sorry, grandpa. But I'm so hungry that I could eat a mountain. I had to rush in here. I'll not repeat this mistake again," he apologized in an earnest-sounding voice. Serena shook her head. Her little brother was a supreme actor and would undoubtedly be sorted into Slytherin with his cunning mind. Aurora with her sweet nature and care for mysterious animals would probably be sorted into Hufflepuff, although her stepdad Sebastian tried to turn her into a Ravenclaw.

Mere minutes after her siblings, her parents walked into the dining room hand in hand. Her mum blushed pink at something Sebastian had whispered in her ear and smiled happily at her parents. She still wore her royal-blue midi satin dressed and had put on her white gold engagement ring, that was adorned with a solitaire sapphire surrounded by diamonds arranged in a rose form, and matching earrings, bracelet, and necklace. Her stepdad Sebastian, who had styled his dark-blonde locks back and spotted stylish light-brown horn-rimmed glasses in front of his icy-blues eyes, wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt and blue-silver stripped tie looking like the grown-up version of Silas. He pulled out the chair for his wife, waited until she had been seated and placed himself on the plush chair on the left side of his son.

He greeted his parents-in-law with a polite nod and beamed at his stepdaughter, who was seated opposite him. "Serena, it's so good to have you back at Prince Manor. I can't wait to put you down in a snowball fight later on this night. I reckon everything is still easy-sailing and fun for you at Hogwarts? Your right hook and nasty hexes should certainly put these Marauders down easily," Sebastian chuckled to himself.

Serena rolled her eyes. She should have bet that her stepdad would bring up her fights with the Marauders and her supreme fighting back strategies. He could be such a manchild sometimes. "Well, Sebastian, I guess that you should know all about my nasty curses, for you were at the receiving end of some of them for making fun of my music tastes. Not everyone lives behind the moon like you and loves to listen to Elvis. The Beatles are way cooler. And you know that I'm always able to handle the arrogant Marauders easily. I can outwit them without getting in a sweat. But let's not ruin our festive mood by talks about these idiots. I can see the house-elves approaching to serve us our meals," Serena exclaimed in an excited voice.

She loved a well-cooked roasted goose with dumplings and baked vegetables. And no one could prepare her favorite meal better than the Princes' house-elves. With a snip of their fingers, their empty dishes were filled with their delicious foods. They poured a Bordeaux Elf-made Wine into the wine glasses of the adults and pumpkin juice into the soda glasses of the twins. Serena savored the delicious aromas of the roasted goose slowly to enjoy the taste lingering on her tongue. The potato dumplings had the right consistency and graced her taste buds pleasantly. The baked vegetables tasted spicy and fresh and were still crunchy.

The Princes ate in silence, only expressing how good their meal tasted occasionally. After their delicious main course, the house-elves served them a tasty tiramisu. Serena knew that her favorite meal wasn't the most healthy or low-calorie dish, but she loved to eat it on special occasions and wasn't obsessed with counting calories anyway. Thanks to her fast metabolism, she didn't gain weight easily. Therefore, she didn't keep a close eye on the calories of her meals. Sure, she tried to eat healthy and varied, but it wasn't her main focus.

After they were finished with their dinner, the house-elves magicked the dishes away with a snip of their fingers and vanished into the kitchen to wash everything. The twins were excused to leave the table and play in their adventure room, while the adults remained seated to exchange some small-talk. Serena was discussing the situation of poor students at Hogwarts when her grandfather's deep baritone addressed her.

"Serena, I'm sorry that I need to cut your talk with your grandma short, but we need to discuss some life-changing developments with you. Believe us, that we all want to see you being happy and achieving your dreams. But a foolish contract that I have signed with Arcturus Black years ago will probably set your life on a different path." Augustus stopped his speech, looked with an earnest expression in Eileen's sad eyes, who clutched the hand of her husband to gather some strength, and turned his gaze back to Serena, "As you undoubtedly know from your mum's stories, I have signed a marriage contract between Arcturus' son Orion and your mum Eileen 25 years ago, to combine the Prince and Black bloodlines. But before the marriage contract could be enacted by Eileen's engagement to Orion, she ran away from home to escape a loveless marriage to her Slytherin house-mate. While she was beginning a new life in the Muggle world, my best friend Arcturus was furious and demanded a retribution for this embarrassing incident. The Daily Prophet went crazy with articles that discredited the Blacks reputation. They speculated about the cruel nature of Orion and pictured him as a money-hungry young man who hadn't been able to seduce the wealthy Prince heiress.

"To calm Arcturus down, I foolishly signed a new binding wedding contract between our families. Orion's eldest male heir would have to marry Eileen's eldest female heiress. To prevent history from repeating itself, Arcturus put a binding clause into the contract. If one of the contracting partners would break the contract, both would lose their magic. Your magical energies would disconnect themselves with your magical cores so that you would be reduced to live a Muggle life. I'm sorry, sweetheart. But you will be engaged to Sirius Black on Christmas, for your wedding must take place six months after your seventeenth birthday. The Blacks will throw a huge engagement party in Grimmauld Place on Christmas Eve. I'm truly sorry, but you can't prevent this marriage from happening without losing your magical powers."

Serena's world stood still. She couldn't believe her ears. At first, she felt the urge to laugh out loud and congratulate her granddad on his spectacular prank, but when she noticed the tears in her mum's eyes, the miserable look on Sebastian's face and the ashen face of her grandma, she knew that her impending engagement to Sirius Black wasn't a joke but a bitter truth. She had to marry her Hogwarts bully, the arrogant Hogwarts heartthrob, and reckless Marauder, Sirius Black due to some ancient magical contract. She felt like her world was crashing down, for her Christmas Hols had suddenly turned into hell.


	5. Chapter 4 – Lash out of the century!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena felt numb. She wanted to destroy their fancy dining table or scream, but somehow, she couldn't move. It was almost as if her heart had stopped beating and her mind had shut down. She felt out of space. How could her family betray her trust and sell out her future like this? She has always thought that they loved her and wanted to see her smile and fulfill her dreams. But a marriage to Sirius Black would throw her into her own personal hell. A world full of misery, pain, self-loathing and anxiety. She didn't know how she could survive this. A little fiery voice inside her head kept telling her that she should fight this stupid contract, run away from her family and live a self-independent life. But she knew that she wouldn't survive a life without magic.

The magic rushing through her veins made her feel powerful, complete and happy. If she wasn't able to cast a spell, create a potion or invent a new hex, she would feel empty, miserable and worthless. Her magic made her Serena Prince and without it, she would be nothing. Therefore, running away from home and breaking the contract, wasn't an option for her. She wanted to apparate into Grimmauld Place, tell Orion Black to fuck himself and hex Sirius into oblivion. But she knew that reckless actions wouldn't improve her situation. A loud voice inside her head taunted her for her stupidity, ugliness, and know-it-all-nature. It somehow sounded like Sirius' voice and mocked her for her looks and lofty dreams.

"My wife is the ugliest woman on earth. I don't know how I might be able to look at you without getting sick. Merlin, when I think about touching you, my skin crawls in disgust and when I think about having sex with you, my brain wants to obliviate itself. You can kiss your dreams of becoming a Potions Mistress goodbye, for my wife will certainly not waste her time on mixing tinctures. As your husband, I will be your new master and rule your life. You can not escape me, little know-it-all. You will be at my mercy for the rest of your life, till death do us apart. It will be such a fun ride, my love," the voice laughed cruelly inside her head.

Serena felt like going insane. She couldn't take the tauntings anymore and lashed out. Jumping up from her plushy chair, that fell with a loud clack onto the expensive parquet, she screamed in an anguished voice "Stop it, stop it. I will never be your wife, Sirius Black" before she dissolved into heart-breaking sobs and crumpled down onto the floor. Her mum rushed to her side, hugged her tightly and whispered into her ear, "Everything will turn all right, sweetheart. You need to calm down," in a soothing voice.

But Serena would not listen to her lies and hypocritic words. She freed herself from her mum's warm embrace and screamed, "Don't lie to me, Mum. Nothing will be alright. I have to marry my Hogwarts tormentor thanks to some fucked up contract. I will never be happy again. And I'm certainly not going to calm myself down. I have just gotten started. You are such a hypocrite. You left the Wizarding world without an education, invented a fake Muggle identity and married a verbally abusive bastard to escape a marriage to Orion Black. And now you have the audacity to tell me that I should stay calm? My childhood in Spinner's End has been hell, and I can't face marrying an utter bully who will insult me non-stop. Do you know that my dreams are still being hunted by Tobias' words? So please, don't advise me how I should live my life. I'm desperately trying not to make the same mistakes that you did. But somehow it turns out that I'll be also married to a tyrant! So I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all." Serena glared at her crying mum with anger burning in her obsidian eyes.

She wanted to hurt them. She wanted to smash everything up, for she couldn't deal with her hopeless future. Seeing her mum being comforted by her husband Sebastian, who held her tightly and reassured her that Serena uttered her words in anger so that she shouldn't take them to her heart, Serena felt guilt nagging in the back of her mind. But she couldn't focus on this feeling now. She was consumed by despair and the feeling of betrayal. Her grandma, who sat with a pale face on the chair beside her and clutched onto her necklace in a desperate attempt to keep her cool, was the next victim of her rant because she was the nearest human in her vicinity.

Serena tried to channel all her hurt on her and screamed in an emotional voice, "How could you let this happen, Grandma? You have already lost your daughter due to some insane contract and now you are also standing by and letting your granddaughter run into her misery? You always talk about caring for the poor, unfortunate or injured, but you seemingly don't care for your family. You're all talk, but no actions. You throw your social events to portray the image of the kind and generous charity lady. But in reality, you are ice-cold to your own family. You can take your tea alone from now on, for I won't drink tea and chat pleasantly with a bystander. And don't try to excuse your behavior with your role as the devoted and loyal wife to your husband. I know for a fact that you can stand up for your balls and tombolas against grandad without any issues. So it seems that the fates of your own daughter and granddaughter aren't as important to you as your reputation. I guess we are worthless," she broke down in fresh tears at the end of her rant because the feeling of being worthless festered on her mind like a fresh wound.

Hearing her emotionally controlled grandma crying out, "No, Serena. You aren't worthless. I love you and your mum. You mean everything to me. Don't think like this. You're not yourself. Please, sweetheart, don't believe your self-created delusions," tugged on her heartstrings and a small voice inside of her head urged her to believe her. But this tiny voice was smashed by a hot wave of anger that consumed her. "These are not delusions, Grandma. This is the hurtful truth. Did you know that my bastard of a Muggle father called me a "worthless brat" or "wicked demon" my whole childhood? Your daughter only stood by – like you – and let herself be reduced to a helpless abused wife. And my future husband and his idiotic friends bully me the whole time, stating "my right to exist" as their reason. Hence, my self-perception isn't delusional, but real. I guess that my fiancé will drum his perception into my thick head in no time and reduce me to an empty shell," Serena exclaimed bitterly.

Her grandma looked shocked at her words and screamed, "Augustus, you must prevent this marriage from happening. I won't let some arrogant cruel boy ruin my granddaughter's life. Please, I beg you. You must find a way out of this mess." Augustus looked with a miserable expression on his face at his wife and shook his head, "Aurelia, my love. I wish that I could find a loophole in this contract. But I have checked everything a hundred times, consulted Sebastian and his lawyers' team and even asked the goblins at Gringotts for their help, but the contract is waterproof. Only Arcturus would be able to dissolve it, for he worked out the binding clause. But due to his Alzheimer's disease, Orion has disempowered him, resumed his seat at the Wizardgarmont and placed him under guardianship. He spends his days in a private St. Mungo's ward, unable to remember his family and friends and trapped inside the mind of a child. He can't annul the clause. Serena will lose her magic if she won't marry Sirius Black."

Aurelia sobbed uncontrollably, "How could you be so daft to sign this contract? Were you so drunk that you couldn't think straight? I'm so disappointed in you. This can't be happening to us," she mumbled between sobs. Augustus wanted to comfort her and take her in her arms, but she turned angrily away from his approaching form. "I can't look into your face right now, Augustus. You know that Eileen's flight in the Muggle world nearly destroyed us. I was only a shy step away from being admitted to the Depression ward in St. Mungo's. I can't go through this again, I can't," his wife uttered in anguished words.

Feeling awful for seeing her strong grandmother reduced into tears, Serena felt the urge to comfort her and share her pain with her. But her feelings of anger, betrayal, and misery still burned inside of her, so that she lashed out again. Piercing her stepdad Sebastian with a seething glare, who still clung to his distraught wife Eileen and soothed her with gentle caresses on her back, she attacked him with a non-verbal wandless Stinging Hex. She ignored her mum's shocked face and whirled on Sebastian.

"Well, Sebastian," she said sarcastically, "it seems like you were also aware of the content of this fucked-up married contract. How does it feel to know that you can't find a loophole in everything and be the hero of the day? I bet your Ravenclaw pride didn't take to kindly to being outsmarted by a Slytherin. It must really hurt to know that you aren't so smart after all. But perhaps, you didn't look into every law that could possibly help me to break this contract. I mean I'm not your biological daughter after all and a walking reminder of your Hogwarts sweetheart's love for some other man. I'm sure if the tables were turned and Aurora would be the subject of this contract, you would look into any existing ancient law cases, spells and law tomes. I guess you don't love me as much as your biological children. And don't ever try to win back my trust with pretending to treat me like an adult. Your actions show crystal clear that I'm not more than an unfree girl to you."

A hurt look crossed Sebastian's face, but he suppressed it and tried to reason with his heart-broken stepdaughter. "Serena, you have to believe me that I consulted every legal text and case that I could find, but nothing presented a solution to me. You know that I love you like my own children so don't doubt my love for you. I would do anything to lessen your pain and keep you out of this situation. So please, don't hate me. You know from my tales how much I despise my cousin Orion Black for what he tried to do to your mum. He knew that I loved her and wanted to share my life with her, but he destroyed our happiness in Hogwarts by insisting on the fulfillment of this stupid wedding contract. He mocked your mum for her excellent grades, called her a "two-timing whore" and threated to make her life a living hell in their marriage. He also forced an unwanted kiss upon her, called her his fiancée and hexed me multiple times to make his claim on Eileen clear. I would never support a marriage contract that would marry you off to his bullying son. Please, Serena, you have to trust me."

The tiny voice inside her head told Serena to believe her stepdad's words. She knew that her mum's runaway stunt, their broken love story and their long no-contact time afflicted Sebastian hugely. He hadn't been able to move on and lived a lonely life focussed on being a successful lawyer until her mum had reconciled with him five years ago. But her anger wouldn't bow down to logical thoughts. It still burned through her body. And she still hadn't confronted the catalyst of her misery. Therefore, she laughed out hysterically, "Oh, Sebastian. I'm no fool to fall for your lies. And I will never trust you again, sorry," she screeched in a high voice.

She turned away from the closely huddled together forms of her parents and faced the initiator of her misery with loathing burning inside her obsidian eyes. "Grandpa, how could you sacrifice my happiness for a friendship deal? I want to rip you into pieces and hex you into oblivion. You can kiss our joined potions experiments goodbye from now on because I don't want to discuss my inventions and improvements with a man that sells out his granddaughter to rescue the reputation of his noble family. Besides that, my fiancé will never allow me to pursue my own career in potions, for he hates my guts and wants to see me suffer. He will never allow me to fulfill my dreams and to elude myself from his control. Perhaps, he will even solve this unfortunate situation – for the arrogant Hogwarts heartthrob doesn't want to be shackled down to some ugly know-it-all – by throwing a dangerous item into my cauldron in the next potions lesson that would let my potion explode. So, thank you, Grandpa, for destroying my life and making me feel like a caged bird. I guess you will still be the youngest Potions Master in Great Britain after all. I hate you," Serena yelled at him, smirked evilly at the distraught and tear-stricken faces of her family members, and ran out of the dining room at lightning speed.

She didn't hear the anguished shouts of her mum or the pleading cries of her grandma. She was only focused on getting into her room as soon as possible. Running through the Manor's corridors in a zoned-out state, she could only think about her impending doom. Although her lash out at her family had made her feel powerful, freed of a huge burden and in control, her burning anger, feeling of betrayal and loneliness wouldn't leave her body. She would be engaged to Sirius Black come Christmas. And she couldn't do anything to prevent this forced marriage from happening.

Smashing open her door with an angry nonverbal Demolishing Spell, Serena jumped on her bed, destroyed some cushions and records with Exploding Spells and broke down into tears. She clutched her legs in a curved position and let her sobs shatter her body. She looked like a hurt, frighted and distraught child. Sometime soon, she would have to find a way to survive her dark fate. But she couldn't think about any survival strategies right now. Her lash out had left her feeling raw, lonely and broken.


	6. Chapter 5 – Facing the hard reality!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena hugged her legs closely, still crying herself to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come to her this night, for her mind kept bombarding her with haunting visions and dark memories. Her visions contained Sirius mocking her for burned breakfast, Sirius bruising her lips with forced kisses and Sirius banning her from the potions' lab. Her memories turned around Sirius insulting her as an "ugly Princess" in her first year, Sirius hexing her with a Nose-Engorging Curse in her third year and Sirius throwing a stinging bomb into her cauldron in her fifth year. Her fiancé really acted like a real charmer in their interactions. Always mocking, hexing or bullying her to break her spirit and make her feel miserable. She could only imagine that he was furious right now, for he certainly didn't want to be tied down to her for the rest of his life either.

An angry, frustrated and vengeful Sirius Black would be a loose cannon and she could only imagine that she would be his first victim. She hated that word "victim" for it made her sound weak, helpless and frightened. Sure, she feared that he wanted to destroy her, but she wouldn't be his passive obedient wife. Thanks to her close-knitted net of friends, she had learned how to stand up for yourself, be strong and fight back against people who wanted to see you hurt and broken. She wouldn't do him the favor to play the dutiful wife and take his bullying without giving a fight. A loud voice inside her head screamed that she wouldn't let him rule her life. If he ordered her to stop brewing and studying for her Potions Mastery, she would tell him to fuck off and let her live her life. She wouldn't be reduced to his maid and baby machine. He would have to accept that she wanted to have her own career as a Potions Mistress, be involved in the Prince Potions research team and go onto tours to collect and discover new potions ingredients.

If they had children, she would reduce her workload and educate them, for she wanted to be a hands-on mum. It was insane, that she was thinking about having children at sixteen, but she knew that children were expected from them. Due to the declining population of the Wizarding community, Pure-bloods married their children off at a young age to increase the chances for many progenies. If you weren't pregnant two years after marriage, the gossipers would speculate that you were unfertile or a hidden homosexual. Hence, healthy, magically powerful children were a huge deal in the Wizarding community and Serena wanted to have at least three of them – two girls and one little boy. She was confident that her children would be magically powerful, but her first priority was to parent them into happy, kind, curious and eager to learn human beings. She dreamed of having children that knew that they were loved unconditionally, protected by their parents and appreciated for their unique personalities.

She dreamed of teaching them how to brew potions with a kids' potions set, cuddling them closely in long reading sessions and playing games in adventurous settings to animate their imagination. She would protect them from any misery and evil, for she didn't want them to feel worthless, unloved and lonely like she did in her childhood. Therefore, she would have to figure out how Sirius and she could make their marriage work without killing each other or traumatizing their children. Sure, they would at the earliest have children when they were twenty-two, for charms at Hogwarts thankfully prevented any student from getting pregnant and she wouldn't be pregnant while finishing her three-year-long studies as a Potions Mistress, but they would have to arrange an armistice between them as soon as possible.

Serena's sobs had died down and she could think clearer now. If she needed to share her whole life with Sirius Black, they would have to start fresh. Although she knew that she wouldn't be able to forget his cruel bullying so easily, she would have to put some efforts into getting to know him, establishing a friendship and forging a relationship based on trust, respect, and care. Sure, she didn't love Sirius Black and she didn't think that she would ever love him. But he would be her husband for the rest of her life and she didn't want to live a life in misery, hatred, and abuse. If she thought hard on it, she couldn't think about any human who wanted to be unhappy in his life. Everyone dreamed of living a life full of happiness, luck, love, health, and friendship. Thence, Sirius Black must also want to be happy.

Naturally, the visions of his happy life didn't include being forcefully married to his Hogwarts nemesis Serena Prince and sharing his life with her, but Serena had to believe into Sirius' good character traits to not die out of fear. From Regulus childhood tales, she knew that he could be extremely protective of his loved ones, eager to experience adventures and fight for this ideals and justice. Every time when Sirius hexed her and she ranted about his cruel character, Regulus told her a story about another Sirius that she didn't know. About the big brother who has endured a punishment to protect his younger brother or has read fantastical tales to Regulus to help him sleep. About the loyal friend who has encouraged his dad to fight for the rights of werewolves in the Wizengamot to make the Wizarding Community into a better place for humans like Remus or has urged his mum to donate 10.000 galleons into the Hogwarts Fund for In Need Students like Peter. About the smiling boy who has chased around the Quidditch field at lightning speed and has dreamed of becoming an Auror.

Serena had to believe that this kind boy was still hidden inside her moody, reckless teen bully. She hoped that he would show this side to her, apologize for his bullying and try to be her friend. Somehow she knew deep down in her bones that Sirius could change and be a fiancé that she could respect and care for. Merlin, she had gone mental on her engagement news, lashed out unfairly at her family and wallowed in her self-pity thanks to some hurtful memories and dark visions of her future.

Sirius couldn't be the monster that the devilish voice inside her head made him out to be, for Regulus could never love a true monster. And her family weren't some demons who wanted to see her suffer and miserable, for they showed their love and care for her every day. Her mum had defended her against Tobias cruel insults, showered her with love and left the man she married to enable her to live a happy life in the Wizarding community. Her stepdad listened to her sorrows and dreams and cared for her as if she was his biological daughter. Her grandma fulfilled her every wish and gave her advice on how to further improve the inter-houses atmosphere at Hogwarts. And her grandpa discussed new potions brewing techniques with her, let her test out her theories inside their potions lab and even paid her for her successful potions' patents.

She would have to apologize to them in the morning. The shock and anger of being married against her will to her Hogwarts' bully had switched off her brain. She was the last person on the planet who had to fear to live a lonely and unhappy life, for she had loving parents, supporting grandparents and loyal friends. The Hogwarts Fab Five vowed to always be there for each other, master any obstacles in their lives together and never lose contact. Merlin, Lily and Emilia will be furious to hear about her engagement to Sirius. They will certainly rant about the injustice and ancient customs of the Wizarding community to force young wizards and witches to wed and produce children. Especially Lily, who wasn't aware of some pure-blood customs due to her Muggle upbringing, will judge the barbaric laws of the Wizarding community harshly. If she knew that some Pure-bloods incorporated punishment and obedience clauses into their contracts, she would protest in front of the Wizengamot.

Christopher will probably try to reason with her and encourage her that Sirius didn't want to live a life in misery. Sure, he was known as a womanizer in Hogwarts and bragged about his dueling and Quidditch skills, but he orientated his life choices on the happiness and fun they would give him. Hence, he would need to find happiness in their marriage. Merlin, Regulus will be heartbroken by her engagement news, for he always envied Sirius for his charisma, popularity and easy-going nature. To hear, that your best female friend will be married to your big brother, that bullied her mercilessly in Hogwarts, will trigger his fears of losing his closest friend to his brother. Sure, some part of Regulus still loved Sirius and remembered their childhood closeness fondly, but his actions against Serena had alienated the Black brothers. Besides that, Sirius avoided Regulus at Hogwarts since he has been sorted into Slytherin. In his mind, all Slytherins were dark witches and wizards and to not rebel against their family's dark history was a crime in itself.

Serena hoped that Regulus will accept the situation and know that he will always be her best friend. Sirius couldn't replace him. He comforted her when she was sad, put a smile on her face with his stupid jokes and read Shakespeare to her in the Room of Requirement to entertain her. She could tell him everything, discuss the most complicated Potions' and Ancient Runes' theories with him and be herself in his company. Merlin, they had even shared their first kisses together, for they wanted to test out kissing and hone their kissing techniques. Her future husband even taunted Regulus for his know-it-all girlfriend, made kissy faces at them and insisted that Regulus should date a hotter girl than the Slytherin wallflower whenever she had visited Grimmauld Place. She didn't know where Sirius got his delusion from that Regulus and she were dating. Anyhow, Regulus had blushed pink at his innuendos, insisted that they were just best friends, hexed him with a Stinging Hex and threated to curse him with some of their mum's dark curses if he kept insulting his best female friend. Hence, her relationship with the Black brothers would be a little awkward in the future, but Serena prayed that it would bring them closer together.

Feeling emotionally exhausted and tired, Serena jumped out of her bed, looked in the starlit black night sky to search out the Sirius constellation and prayed that everything will turn out right. Stifling a yawn, she stepped into her light grey tiled en-suite bathroom, switched on the light with a nonverbal wandless Lumos Maxima, washed her tear-stricken face, applicated a self-made face cream for sensitive skin and brushed her teeth. After that, she accioed her favorite lace lavender nightdress, took off her violet lace dress that she levitated into her laundry basket and her amethyst jewelry set that she levitated into her jewel box and slipped on her nightdress. Falling onto her rifled bed, she plumped up her warm turquoise cotton pillow and wrapped herself into the warm turquoise cotton duvet. Looking optimistic into her future and vowing to apologize to her family, Serena fell into a deep sleep quickly.

The first rays of sunshine awoke her at 8 o'clock in the morning. She yawned, enjoyed the warmth of her bed for some more minutes and jumped out of it. Walking into her en-suite bathroom, she switched on the light with a nonverbal wandless Lumos, went to the toilet, washed her hands and face and looked at her mirror image. Her obsidian eyes still looked a little tired and red from her crying and her porcelain skin was as white as ever. She applied a Freshing Spell on her face, brushed her hair and cleaned her teeth. Next, she smiled at the mirror and talked to it in a determined voice.

"You will master your marriage to Sirius Black, Serena. You are strong and can do everything with the support of your family and friends. Keep your cool and put on a smile whenever Sirius agitates you. You will go into your room, apply some natural make-up and put on your dark green midi satin dress. You will look lovely and apologize to your family at breakfast. They will understand your rant, accept your apology and tell you more about the marriage contract. They love and support you. Thence, they know that your harsh words and angry screams where uttered in shock and despair." Nodding once to her mirror image, Serena walked back into her room and seated herself at her vintage make-up table.

She accioed her wand – a fairly flexible 10 ¾" Ebony wand with a Phoenix feather core that was decorated with belladonnas on the handle – into her right hand and applied a porcelain-colored Make-up-Foundation Spell on her face, a Eyeshadow Charm with silver eyeshadow on her eyelids as well as a black Mascara Spell on her eyelashes and a Glossy-Lips Charm with rose lipgloss on her lips. She styled her long ebony locks into a twisted chignon with the help of a Styling Spell and sprayed her favorite "Miss Dior" perfume on her neck. After that, she stepped in front of her cupboard, took off her lace nightdress and underwear and accioed a simple silver colored lace slip and matching lace bra out of it. Dressed in her silver lace lingerie, she accioed her forest green midi satin dress with a modest neckline and a flattering cut and put it on. She dressed her feet into her favorite silver pumps. She finished her look with her emerald jewelry collection that had been gifted to her from her parents to her OWLs. It contained a white gold necklace with a teardrop emerald encrusted by diamonds, a white gold bracelet with four teardrop emeralds encrusted by diamonds, a white gold ring with a teardrop solitaire emerald encrusted by diamonds and simple white gold earrings with teardrop emerald dangles encrusted by diamonds.

She knew that she probably looked a little over-the-top, but she wanted to look lovely today and apologize to her family by wearing Slytherin colors. She walked into the dining room with a light spring in her step and sighed dreamingly at the smell of fresh scrambeled eggs, bacon and croissants that was lingering in the air. Her family had already been seated around the table and looked expectantly at her. Perhaps, they thought that she would break down in tears again or throw another tantrum, for her mum scanned her with sad eyes and her grandma looked at her with a worried face. She tried to wipe away their fears by smiling at them and walked calmly to her seat. She ruffled the hair of Aurora and addressed her tense family.

"Good morning, everyone. I must apologize for my outbreak yesterday, but the news of my impending engagement to Sirius Black overwhelmed me and let me freak out. In my shock and despair I sad hurtful things that I want to apologize for." She zoomed in her gaze on her surprised-looking mum and expressed in a gentle voice, "Mum, I'm sorry for my unfair words. I know that you love me and you tried everything to protect me from Tobias. I also know that you want to see me happy and with one night of sleep, I realized that I can still fulfill my dreams in a marriage to Sirius Black. I hope that you can forgive me." Her mum shed a tear, stepped beside her and hugged her tightly. "I will always forgive you, sweetheart. I'm so glad that you are optimistic about your future. I love you and I' m proud of the strong young woman you are. Although your words cut me deep, I could classify them as words spoken in despair. I'm certain that everything will turn out all right," she exclaimed in an emotional voice and kissed her cheek.

Next, Serena turned her gaze to her grandma. "Grandma, I'm sorry for my harsh words. You're not a fame hungry society lady who doesn't care for her family. I know that you want to see me living a happy life and love me. I hope that you can accept my apology", she stated in a clear voice and squeezed her grandma's left hand gently. "Serena, I will accept your apology, for I know how moody teenagers can lash out if they think their world is falling apart. I'm so proud of your adult reaction today and will support your life choices. We can chat more during tea time this afternoon, sweetheart," her grandma said smiling at her and squeezing her hand back.

Serena stood up from her chair next and walked to Sebastian. "Sebastian, I'm sorry for my hurtful words. I know that you love me like your own daughter and aren't happy about my impending marriage to Sirius Black either. Please, accept my apology", she expressed in a humble tone and locked her onyx eyes with his blue ones. Sebastian hugged her around the shoulder and uttered in a playful tone, "I know that you love me, little one. And I can remember how emotionally overwhelming my teenage years were. Hence, I didn't take your rant personally. And be assured that I will kick this Black boy's ass if he doesn't treat you like a true princess."

She smiled at him, rolled her eyes and walked to her granddad next. Placing herself in his lap, she turned her face to him and put her hands loosely behind his neck. "Grandpa, I'm truly sorry for my hateful words. I know that you signed this marriage contract to save your friendship to Arcturus. You probably didn't think that it would ever be enacted, for mum was living her life in the Muggle world. I know that you love me and want to see me be happy. I can't thank you enough for your tutelage in Potions, our discussions about new potions brewing techniques and your incredible faith in my newly developed potions. I would love to test out my new potions experiments with you. Can you forgive me?" she asked in an emotional voice. Her grandpa patted her back gently and answered in his deep baritone, "There is nothing to forgive, sweetheart. Your anger was rightfully directed at me for my foolish actions. I knew that you acted out because you saw your dreams slipping away from you. I promise you to always be there for you and I will force Orion to make some unbreakable vows, if your fiancé treats you badly. I can't wait to test out your new potions research later on this day."

Serena hugged her grandpa tightly, mumbled a "Thank you for being such an awesome family" and seated herself back at the table. She couldn't wait to taste all the delicious foods the house-elves had prepared for them. She was happy that her family were so understanding and thanked Merlin for them. She would enjoy a healthy meal before informing herself about the exact contents of her marriage contract. After all, it was always better to know exactly what you were dealing with.


	7. Chapter 6 – Studying your marriage contract tires you out!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena enjoyed the last bites of her fluffy croissant as the deep baritone of Augustus Prince addressed her. "Sweetheart, we need to talk about your marriage contract to Mr. Black in my study after breakfast. I know that it isn't your most favorite topic, but you should be informed about the details, for your engagement party will take place at Grimmauld Place two days from now. And you certainly want to know what you're dealing with. So, if you're finished with your breakfast, we should retire to my study." She looked at her grandpa with huge obsidian eyes, grimaced a little and answered him. "Although I'm really not looking forward to this talk, I know that it will be essential to know every clause of the marriage contract. Hence, I thank you for keeping me up to date and discussing it with me. We can go into your study now."

Serena stood gracefully up from her chair, touched her hidden inside her wand-holster, that was stored under her right shoulder, Ebony wand to gather some strength and followed her grandpa with a determined look in her onyx eyes. She wouldn't break down into tears again or wallow in self-pity. She was a strong young woman who could master everything and she wouldn't let herself be broken by a marriage to Sirius Black. She hoped that her grandpa wasn't so foolish to sign a contract with some archaic pure-blooded clauses that practically turned her into the property of her fiancé and enabled him to punish her disobedience mercilessly. They would basically cause her unbearing pain whenever she displeased her husband and put her under some kind of Imperius Curse. She clutched herself at the hope that Arcturus wouldn't have forced his best friend into signing such a contract.

Sure, he must have been embarrassed and angry at Eileen's vanishing act and the juicy headlines in the Daily Prophet, but he wouldn't have tricked his best friend into signing a doomed marriage contract out of revenge. For the binding archaic clauses inside a marriage contract could cause the bride extreme harm. It existed documented cases where a disobedient wife had been put into a coma or gone insane and some desperate women have even killed themselves to escape their dark fates. From her grandpa's tales, she knew that Arcturus shared many character traits with his grandson Regulus. He was wicked smart in Ancient Runes, cunning in politics, fiercely loyal to his friends and loved to joke around. He had married his wife, Melania MacMillan, who had been a chestnut-haired intelligent Ravenclaw beauty, out of love, although their marriage had been forged due to a belated marriage contract.

She couldn't imagine, that a man who had urged his parents to arrange a marriage contract with the MacMillans out of love, would set up a marriage contract with archaic clauses. She knew from Regulus stories that his grandma had been a self-independent passionate woman who wrote her own books on Astronomy, organized her own charity events and fought for her own ideas. She and Arcturus had been equals in their marriage. Her death due to Dragon Pox at fifty-five shattered Arcturus and sped up his Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, she hoped that Arcturus was an enthusiastic supporter of equal spousal rights and didn't incorporate clauses into the contract that would force her to be a submissive wife.

Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed that they had arrived in front of the heavy oak door of his grandpa's study. Taking a deep breath and encouraging herself in her mind that she could handle everything, Serena followed her grandpa into his ornate decorated and wood paneled study. She loved to sit in one of the huge emerald velvet armchairs opposite his dark oak writing desk, debating the newest potions inventions and discussing the uses of ancient potions techniques. The room smelled of parchment, whiskey, and sandalwood and the powerful rays of sunshine from the glowing winter sun illuminated it in a breath-taking way. The sun let his dark oak drink cabinet shine in a kaleidoscope of colors, for his various drinks – whiskey, firewhiskey, vodka, cherry brandy, and gin – were filled into colorful crystal decanters. His dark oak book cabinet was stuffed with various tomes on Potions, brewing techniques, Herbology, finances, Wizarding law, and Wizarding customs. A golden edged sneakoscope, framed pictures of his family and an ancient golden clock stood on his neatly sorted dark oak writing desk beside a stack of parchment, two dark-blue ink bottles and a golden container filled with various quills.

Serena took her seat on the plush velvet armchair and awaited her grandfather's next words with bated breath. She encouraged herself to stay cool and listen calmly as well as closely to the statutes of her marriage contract. Thanks to her photographic memory, she should be able to memorize everything in detail. Her grandfather opened his top drawer and accioed an enrolled parchment. "This must be my wedding contract," Serena thought in awe. "I really hope that Arcturus Black wasn't so cruel as to deceit his best friend." Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on her grandfather's deep baritone.

"This parchment contains a copy of your wedding contract, Serena. The original is safely stored in the Ministry, for Arcturus didn't want to test out my willingness to not destroy it. Naturally, I wouldn't have been able to dissolve the contract by burning it anyways, for its magical properties are binding. I only signed this wedding contract with the knowledge, that it doesn't incorporate obedience clauses. Hence, you can be relieved. You won't be shackled down to the whim of Sirius Black. Your marriage will be based on equal rights and duties. And if the Black boy tries to rule your life, he will be attacked with a short Stinging Hex. I will discuss every statue in detail with you. If you have any questions, please ask them without hesitation," Augustus Prince locked his onyx eyes with his granddaughter's obsidian ones.

"I'm relieved that my marriage will be based on equal rights and that my husband will be punished for trying to put me in a submissive place. I appreciate that you are willing to discuss the wedding contract in detail with me and I will ask you to clarify your words if I don't comprehend them. Or pester you with questions that bug me. I'm ready as I can be, Grandpa. You can inform me about the statutes of my marriage contract now," Serena stated in a confident voice.

Her grandpa cleared his throat and started his lecture in a calm voice. "Firstly, you need to know that Arcturus and I arranged this marriage contract in the late 50s after your mother fled into the Muggle world. The first statute entails that the first male heir of Orion Black will be married to the first female heiress of Eileen Prince at the latest six months after the Prince heiress turns seventeen. Thence, the engagement should be announced two weeks before the Prince heiress' seventeenth birthday. The second statute states that both heirs will lose their magical powers if they break their marriage contract. Their magical core will be blocked so that they can't access their magical energies. Therefore, they would be reduced to live a life in the Muggle world or as a Squib in the Wizarding community.

"The third paragraph reads that they must consummate their marriage on their wedding night. For they are still students at Hogwarts, magical contraceptives are allowed to be used. The fourth item expresses that the Black heir and the Prince heiress will be bound till death does them apart. During their magical wedding ceremony, a binding Fidelity Spell and Fertility Charm will be placed upon them to increase the chances of children and secure the paternity of their children. The fifth statute entails that they will be equals in their marriage. They should discuss during their engagement which life they want to live. They should plan their future career paths, family life, and living arrangements."

Augustus paused here and looked at his pale granddaughter. "I know that you need to process a lot of different information. Hence, I'm stopping now to give you time to ask your questions. Do you not understand something? Or do you want to know something in more detail, sweetheart?" he asked her in a gentle voice.

Serena answered her grandfather in a composed tone. "Thanks for being so honest with me, Grandpa. I understand every paragraph until now. But some questions are burning on my mind. Firstly, our wedding will take place during the summer holidays, correct? And we will have to consummate the marriage on our wedding day with contraceptives in place. Will we need to have sex together regularly thereafter? And can we use contraceptives?" She asked blushing scarlet. She naturally didn't want to discuss her future sex life with her grandfather, but she needed to know what this marriage contract entailed.

Her grandpa looked uncomfortable and answered in a flustered sounding voice. "You're right, sweetheart. You will be married come July. We will need to organize the details with Sirius' parents in the upcoming weeks, but I guess a summer wedding will be perfect. We could officiate the ceremony and celebrate your wedding in the garden of Prince Manor if you wished it. But the planning of your wedding isn't my area of expertise. Your grandma and mum will surely help you with it. Regarding your matrimonial cohabitation, the contract only states that you will have to consummate your marriage on your wedding night. Thereafter, regularly matrimonial coitus is expected, but not required from the magical contract. It will be your decision. But if you decide to have sexual intercourse, you should use contraceptives, for you don't want to finish your NEWTs being pregnant. Naturally, marriage contracts are arranged to increase the chances of legitimate children. But your contract doesn't dictate you when you should get pregnant and how often. That will be decided by your husband and yourself. Do you have any other questions?"

Serena sighed relieved that she could decide how often she wanted to have sex with her husband and how many children they would welcome into their family. Although she still was embarrassed to talk about her sex life and future pregnancies with her grandfather, she couldn't change it. And thinking about having sex with Sirius Black evoked horrific visions inside her head. She would have to talk about them with her female friends and her mum. Pushing these thoughts aside, she bombarded him with questions. "I understand the need for a Fidelity Spell because I want to carry on a marriage based on fidelity, respect, and trust. But what will happen if the Fidelity Spell is broken by my husband? He surely wouldn't die, would he? And does the Fertility Charm enact negatively with any contraceptives?"

Augustus Prince rolled his eyes. He should have bet that his granddaughter would want to know everything in detail. "Well, your husband can't cheat on you, for the spell prevents him from being able to perform sexual acts with someone other than you. Even if he only kissed someone else, he would be burned and feel extraordinary pain. The same rules naturally apply to you, but I know that you would never break your wedding vows anyways. Your instinct on the Fertility Charm is spot on. Any Muggle contraceptives lose their efficacy, therefore you should use magical contraceptives to prevent any unwanted pregnancy. If you don't have any further questions, I will go on to educate you on the missing five paragraphs." He looked at his granddaughter expectantly, noticed her small nod and continued.

"The sixth statute states that you will move into your own Manor after your marriage. You can choose your own manor from various properties and the Black and Prince families will pay any refurbishment costs. Naturally, you will be able to refurbish the manor according to your wishes. You will have to live there together during the Winter Hols of your seventh year at Hogwarts. The seventh item entails that you will share one account at Gringotts after your marriage. Naturally, your existing Gringotts accounts will be combined and you will each receive 5.000 Galleons monthly of your trust funds. In your case, the payments of your potions patents will also be disposed into your account. A magical enchantment will prevent you from using your coins for alcohol, gambling or drugs.

"The eighth statute reads that you have to spend your vacations together after your engagement to get to know each other better. Thence, you will have to share a hotel room with your fiancé in St. Moritz and reserve at least four hours a day to get to know each other. We will discuss the details of our winter vacation later on. The ninth paragraph rules that you will attend any society or family events after your engagement together. Therefore, you will have to spend Christmas, New Year, your Birthday, Beltaine and Summer Solstice together. We will work out the details later, for we have invited the Black family for lunch today. The tenth statute prescribes that you will have to put some real efforts into getting to know each other. Hence, you will have to spend at least one hour a day at Hogwarts together to become acquainted with each other. I hope that you will take the requirements of the marriage contract seriously. Do you have any questions?" Her grandfather asked her in a business-like tone.

Serena panicked inside her mind. She would have to spend a lot of her free time with Sirius Black. Holidays, her seventeenth birthday, social events, even study sessions at Hogwarts. She really hoped that they could work out an agreement to let their past animosity rest, start fresh and make the best out of their dire situation. She knew that she could count on her friends to always cheer her up. She collected her thoughts and questioned her grandfather in a cool voice. "It is so generous of you, to gift us our own manor to our marriage. Will we be able to choose any manor from the Prince and Black properties in Great Britain? And how will our shared Gringotts account prevent us from wasting our money? And how will you ensure that we spend at least one hour a day at Hogwarts together? These questions are burning under my skin right now."

Augustus Prince admired his granddaughter's keen mind. Her questions showed that she was interested in Magical theory and wanted to fathom any mysterious enchantments. "Firstly, you can select any manor from the Prince and Black real estate that is free-standing and fit to be inhabited. Secondly, your Gringotts account is charmed with an Anti-Money-Wasting Spell that disables you from buying hard liquor and drugs or squandering your money on gambles. You simply won't be able to use your Gringotts account for such items. The spell blocks it. Thirdly, your at least one-hour a day getting-to-know-each other-time will be ensured by a bracelet that you will be gifted with on your engagement party. It will urge you to spend one hour together and bombard your ears with a shrill alarm if you try to skip it. I hope that I have answered any questions now. Or do you want to know something else?" He inquired with a sparkle in his obsidian eyes.

Serena shook her head and answered in an exhausted-sounding voice. "No, Grandpa. I'm good for now and thank you for your patient explanations. My brain will need some time to come to terms with everything, although my photographic memory should help me. I'm going to drink a coffee now, for this whole marriage talk really tired me out. And I need to be sharp-minded if we're expecting the Black for lunch in two hours." She walked to him and embraced him tightly. Merlin, she really needed a coffee right now.


	8. Chapter 7 – Lunching with a Black devil, I!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena paced the entry hall of Prince Manor nervously up and down. The Black family would arrive any minute. The house-elves had cleaned any corner of the manor, polished any chandelier and prepared a delicious lunch. They would serve a salmon pâté with white wine as a starter, roast venison, croquettes and white asparagus with red wine as a main course and crème brûlée with winter coffee as dessert. The house-elves had set the dining table with their finest porcelain dishes, silver cutlery, and glasses, keeping the decorations classic with bordeaux tablecloths, bordeaux candles and sparkling diamonds on the crème-colored table runner. Her grandma had ordered them around, demanding supreme perfection and excellent time management to impress the Blacks. She could be a real neurotic sergeant if she wanted to arrange perfect social events.

Serena shook her head and rolled her eyes. She hoped that she would never turn into a manic perfectionist. She fidgeted with her emerald necklace anxiously, observed her reflection in the huge golden-framed mirror and tried to stay cool. Seeing her glamorous soft choral black curls framing her heart-shaped face perfectly, Serena thanked Merlin for the invention of the Perfect-Curls Charm, for it transformed her normally flat hair into Hollywood curls. She had only freshened up her make-up so that her obsidian eyes popped thanks to her smoky silver eyeshadow, dark mascara, and black eyeliner. Her usually pale face glowed in flawless porcelain perfection and her cheekbones were defined thanks to some light rogue. Her thin lips shone like luscious pink roses. She was still wearing her emerald midi satin dress, silver pumps, and emerald jewelry set. Somehow, she looked like a grown-up more glamorous version of the ordinary Serena Prince and she hoped that her looks would help her fresh start with Sirius.

If she didn't look so much like the wallflower know-it-all Sirius saw at Hogwarts, he would hopefully be able to work out an agreement with her. Sure, she knew that she wasn't a stunning beauty that could allure Sirius Black with her dark charms, for her nose had a little bump and her figure was too tomboy-like. But her modest vintage dress accentuated her small waist and charmed her a lovely cleavage as well as a sexy butt. Naturally, she knew that Sirius probably wouldn't fall under her spell and her changed looks wouldn't turn his opinion of her upside down. But she knew that teenaged boys could be easily manipulated by sweet smiles, a deep plunging neckline or a nice ass. Hence, she prayed that her looks would help her in her mission to negotiate a deal with Sirius Black.

Scrunching her onyx eyes at her mirror image, she should have probably changed the colors of her outfit, for she was a walking mascot for Slytherin. "Damn it, Serena. Sirius Black hates Slytherin with a passion. How could you be so daft to wear emerald green today? He will mock you for your house pride and call you a cunning snake", a loud voice screamed panicked inside Serena's head. "You aren't daft, Serena. You chose to wear this outfit for you love this emerald dress and you wanted to honor your parents by wearing their Christmas gift. You should dress in the clothes you like and not orientate your fashion style on the whim of Sirius Black. You're a strong self-independent woman that lives a self-determined life. A marriage to Sirius fucking Black won't change that. So, cheer up, keep your head high and stun them", a determined voice encouraged her inside her conflicted mind.

Serena put a smile on her face and vowed to not dissemble herself to please Sirius Black. Naturally, they would have to find some common ground between them, but she wouldn't pretend to be a person that didn't exist. She wanted to be honest, real and authentic with him and hoped that she could persuade him to act civilly. Taking a deep breath, she faced the door for she could hear people apparating onto their snowy lawn.

Her family was already assembled in the entry hall standing near the huge stone stairs and looking splendid. Her grandfather, Augustus Prince, wore a dark grey suit with a green dress shirt and a green-silver striped tie. Her grandmother, Aurelia Prince, was dressed in a long icy-blue silk dress with crystal jewelry. Her mum, Eileen Prince MacMillian, wore a scarlet form-fitting midi lace dress with ruby jewelry. Her stepdad, Sebastian MacMillan, was dressed in a black suit with a white dress shirt and a scarlet-black striped tie. Her young twin siblings, Aurora and Silas MacMillian, were attired in a scarlet pleated skirt and sweet white blouse and in a scarlet cashmere sweater with black trousers. They looked like the picture-perfect-family, chatting pleasantly with each other and smiling around.

Opening the door with a loud bang, the Black patriarch, Orion Black, stepped into the entry hall with his sour-looking wife, Walburga Black, looped into his arm. Orion wore a dark grey unclosed winter coat that gave away a glimpse on his black suit, light-grey dressing shirt and grey-black stripped tie. He had styled his dark brown curls back whereby anyone could take an unrestricted view on his clean-shaven strong chin, cloudy-grey eyes and handsome facial features. He looked so much like an older version of Sirius that it was uncanny. Walburga Black was dressed in a hideous unfasted dark-brown fur coat that revealed her long fuchsia velvet dress and huge golden amber jewelry. She had styled her dark-brown locks into a twisted updo that accentuated her swan neck, smoky midnight-blue eyes, and angular facial features. Behind them, Regulus Black stepped inside the manor with a handsome smile plastered on his face. His black unclosed winter coat gave away a glimpse at his black suit, royal blue dressing shirt and silver-blue stripped tie. He had styled his dark brown curls neatly, twinkled at Serena with his midnight-blue eyes and looked slightly flabbergasted at her beautiful outfit. He looked like a handsome Prince Charming that any parents wanted to have as their son-in-law.

In a distance from his brother, Sirius Black shambled with a furious look blazing in his grey eyes and an evil smirk on his lips, inside the manor. He was dressed in a used-looking black leather jacket, faded dark jeans and a dark grey dress shirt looking every inch the Bad Boy he wanted to be. His dark brown locks swirled around his face, his handsome features were set in a sneer and his grey eyes pierced Serena. Seeing her dressed up, his strong jaw slagged slightly, but he schooled his features into his cool mask pretty soon. A shiver of fear went down Serena's spine at registering the pissed-off look on her financé's face. She couldn't handle a manic loose canon Sirius Black today. Encouraging herself to stay strong inside her head, she observed the house-elves running around the Blacks and freeing them out of their coats. Whereas Regulus thanked them for their help, Walburga barked at them for their lazy movements.

Serena rolled her eyes. Count on Walburga Black to terrorize any house-elves. Orion waited with a tense look on his face for his wife and approached the Princes with a smug smirk and elegant steps. He stepped in front of her grandmother, kissed her porcelain hand lightly and expressed in his velvet voice. "Lady Prince, it's a pleasure for my family to spend this beautiful winter day with you. Thank you for your generous invitation. You look stunning as always." Her grandmother greeted him with a stoned face, not being flattered by his compliments at the slightest. Next, he shook hands with her grandfather and addressed him in an earnest tone. "Lord Prince, it's so nice to see you. I hear Prince Potions sets a new selling record this year. I can't wait to talk politics and business with you after lunch, although we will have to set some family matters straight first." Her grandpa greeted him with a tense nod and muttered in an annoyed-sounding voice, "We will settle everything after lunch, Orion".

After this tense exchange, he kissed the shaking hand of her mum a little too long to be considered decent, winked at her and greeted her in his smoothest voice. "Eileen, it's a pleasure to see you again after such a long time. You look beautiful as always. I can't wait to exchange stories about our Hogwarts time later on." Her mum greeted Orion in a cool voice, showed her disdain with a burning glare and uttered, "Orion, I can't say that I'm looking forward to this trip down memory line." She snuggled into the strong body of her husband, who got only a sneered "Hello, cousin. Long time no see" as a greeting. Orion glared at the twins annoyingly as if they were some unpleasant bugs and moved on to greet Serena.

He kissed her hand gallantly and pierced her onyx eyes with his grey ones. Serena felt a cold shiver run down her spine, for Orion's piercing look made her feel uncomfortable. "Hello, Serena. It's a pleasure to get to know you more closely. You have inherited your mother's beauty. I can't wait to call you my daughter-in-law." He smirked at her like a shark and Serena wanted to hide behind a huge wall. But she wouldn't let herself be intimated by this arrogant man. "Hello, Mr. Black. It's nice to see you again. I hope everything is going alright at the Ministry?" She asked in a sugar-sweet voice with a fake smile on her face. He only mumbled a tense "Everything is going splendidly as always, my dear" in return and looked around in their entry hall.

From the corner of her eyes, Serena could see Walburga scrunching her husband for his behavior, exchanging tense small-talk with her grandparents and condemning her mum for her fashionable outfit. Serena huffed angrily. Bet on Walburga Black to judge her mum for her scarlet outfit when she is wearing an exploded fuchsia Puffskein. She glared at the twins for having the guts to joke in her presence and pecked Serena's cheeks with ice-cold kisses. "Serena, my dear. It's so nice to see you again. I can't wait to plan your marriage. It will be the wedding of the decade", she exclaimed in a forcefully cheery voice. Serena exchanged some pleasantries with her and answered her in a steady tone, "I hope that we can get to know each other better during the wedding planning, Mrs. Black."

Regulus greeted her grandparents and parents with charming compliments and ruffled her twin siblings dark locks in greeting, which earned him an annoyed glare and playful prank that turned his tie into a snake for mere minutes. He laughed at the twins cunning pranks and praised them for their magical talent. But when he heard his dad addressing Serena as his future daughter-in-law and his mum talking about wedding plans, he was confused. "What is going on here?" he asked himself. "If my parents have arranged a marriage contract between Serena and me, they would have already talked about it with me. Besides that, Sirius is still their male heir, although he tries everything to get disowned. Hence, he should be the first one getting married," he mused deep ins his thoughts. Suddenly everything clicked inside his mind. "No, they can't marry the love of my life off to my brother. Serena is my best friend, the light of my life and my secret crush and she wouldn't be happy in a marriage with Sirius. I must prevent this marriage from happening", a heart-broken Regulus vowed in a determined voice inside his head.

Serena shook her head at Regulus's silly interactions with the twins. She noticed that he suddenly seemed lost in deep thoughts and looked horrified at her after some minutes. His beautiful smile has vanished from his face, his blue eyes scrutinized in on Sirius and a determined look graced his features. "Merlin, no," Serena thought shocked. "They haven't informed him about the marriage contract. He only figured it out from their innuendos mere minutes ago. He looks rightfully pissed. I hope that I can calm him down and explain everything to him after lunch. For a furious Regulus isn't easy to deal with." She noticed from the corners of her eyes, how Sirius, who had greeted her family in a cool manner, smirked evilly at Regulus's furious look. "Oh no. The arrogant fool is trying to egg Regulus on. Merlin, help me," Serena prayed inside her mind.

Regulus approached her with a panicked look but cast away his real feelings behind a cool mask to not create a scene in front of their families. But his body language betrayed everything to Serena. He urged her with his blinking eyes to explain everything to hear as soon as possible. Hell, he even jerked his head slightly to signal her that he wanted to whisk her away in a dark corridor as soon as possible. She shook her head, denying him his silent request, and tried to reassure him with a smile. "Regulus, it's so nice to see you again so soon. I have already missed your goofy smiles and silly jokes. You need to tell me everything about your new readings in Ancient Runes later on." She exclaimed in a happy-sounding voice, pecked his cheeks gently and hugged him tightly. "I will tell you everything about this messed up marriage contract later on, Reg. But you can't make a scene now. That will only satisfy Sirius's need for drama and action. So, please put on your perfect Slytherin face for me." She whispered inside his left ear and tried to calm him down with soothing caresses on his back. Regulus locked his blue eyes with her onyx ones, nodded once, tightened his embrace around her waist and whispered in her right ear, "I will hold in my temper for now, Serena. But I want to hear everything about this doomed marriage later on. And you can naturally count on me. I won't let my brother destroy your life, butterfly. You look beautiful by the way."

Serena blushed slightly at his compliment. She wanted to inform him of her hopeless situation and cry into his shoulder, but she noticed the disdainful look of Walburga Black. "Merlin, she probably thinks that I'm some harlot who plays her sons off against each other," she thought cringing inwardly. Taking a step back from Regulus, she urged him with a deep look to chat pleasantly with her. Regulus thankfully understood her silent plea and joked in a playful voice, " I have also missed you, Serena. I don't know how to spend my time without you nagging me about studying for my OWLs. I can't wait to hear all about your new crazy potions' ideas after lunch."

Serena rolled her eyes at him. Count on Regulus to make her smile with his silly jokes. Her pleasant thoughts were interrupted by the approaching form of Sirius, who had greeted her little twin siblings with, "That was a nice prank you played on Regulus, little munchkins. Keep egging the Slytherins on", which earned him an angry glare from them, that turned one of his messy dark-brown streaks emerald-silver for some minutes. He burned Serena's obsidian eyes with a smug look, shoved Regulus lightly out of his way and kissed her hand gentlemanly with a feathery peck. "Serena, it's so nice to see you, my lovely fiancée. You look stunning. Emerald really brings out your onyx eyes. I can't wait to show you off to the Wizarding community as my future wife," Sirius exclaimed with a handsome smile on his face.

He threw her into a tight embrace and whispered inside her right ear. "I can't wait to kiss your luscious lips, my little bookworm. If I had known what a sexy body you hide under your baggy robes, I would have made a move on you ages ago. Now I know what Regulus sees in you. But your deep longing looks, intimate touches, and close talks will sadly have to end now, for I won't allow you to make a fool out of me by making out with my little brother in front of the whole Wizarding community. You're going to be my wife. And as such, you'll only have eyes for me. Congratulations, Serena. You have upgraded your Black lover." Sirius tightened his embrace painfully around her waist. Serena was shocked by his jealous delusions and possessive behavior. "How daft must someone be to think that Regulus and I are lovers?", she asked herself. Seeing his satisfied devilish grin, she decided to make one thing clear. "I'm not your property, Sirius Black. Our fucked up marriage is going to be a marriage between equals. I can spend my time with whomever I want," she whispered in an icy voice into his left ear. Feeling a cool shiver running down her spine, Serena realized one thing. Her fight for a marriage based on trust, respect, equal rights and duties had only just begun. And judging by the dark look on Sirius's face, she would need nerves made out of steal to negotiate a deal with him.


	9. Chapter 8 – Lunching with a Black devil, II!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

The atmosphere in the Princes' dining room was tense. Everyone tried to eat their meals as quiet as possible, only making comments about the excellent quality of the served foods and the delicious taste of their dishes. Serena suppressed the urge to roll her eyes as Orion Black uttered for the tenth time that their house-elves could cook as good as the house-elves of Hogwarts. He was seated beside her stepdad and looked disdainful at the closeness and amorousness of her mum and Sebastian. Whenever Sebastian touched the thigh of Serena's mum, kissed her hand or looked with love into her obsidian eyes, an envious look crossed his face. And her mum's loved-up smiles, sweet giggles, and leisurely caresses only seemed to darken his mood more.

"Well, it seems like someone is still holding a grudge for my mum's actions in the past," Serena mused. "It must really suck to be scorned by your future bride for your bookish cousin. But to have her take an escape into the Muggle world for decades, only for her to come back with a Half-blood daughter and rekindle her romance with your cousin, resulting in them being happily married with twins, must feel like a punch in your guts. Especially, if you're an arrogant Pure-blood, who thinks that he is the next wonder to Merlin in the looks department and who needed to marry his fiend-like older female cousin to save his face." Serena hoped that Orion Black would let the past rest and focus on persuading his son to make his marriage work, for she couldn't handle three pissed-off destructive Blacks.

She risked a peek at Walburga Black, who condemned her husband's obvious jealousy with scornful glares, had a sour-look plastered on her face and reprimanded her poor little brother Silas, who was unfortunately seated beside her, for his humming. "Merlin, she really is a she-devil. If Silas's silly humming annoys her like this, I can't fathom how she managed to parent two boisterous boys. I know from Regulus tales that she had loved to punish her children with house arrest, food restriction and Stinging Hexes for any missteps they had dared to make. But I didn't think that her temper could be so easily triggered. I have to watch out for her," Serena thought with a mental sigh.

Suddenly, she felt eyes burning into her skull. Turning her head to her left side, her obsidian eyes were locked with Sirius's grey ones. He smirked at her, gulped down a swig of his red wine and scanned her with an X-ray vision. Serena felt uneasy under his gaze, tried to stay cool and enjoy the excellent taste of her joint roast venison. She tried to communicate her uneasiness with a silent plea to stop through her onyx eyes, but he seemed to not get her message or enjoyed making her squirm. Taking a deep breath, Serena schooled her features into a cool mask and smiled friendly at him. "If Sirius thinks he can disturb me with his creepy smirks and burning looks, he will have another thing coming for him. I will simply contradict his perception of me by being nice to him and answering his stares with smiles. That will drive him crazy," she thought amusedly.

But Sirius seemed to only be egged on by her little mind games, for she abruptly felt hot and invisible lips peppered her neck with feathery kisses. Her obsidian eyes widened in shock and she could barely suppress an embarrassing moan from escaping her lips. Feeling flustered, she cursed inside her head, "The cooky bastard really wants to humiliate me in front of our families. How dare he cast a wandless and nonverbal spell on me that simulates invisible lips kissing my neck against my will. I will stop his little play now." She applied her Occlumency shield, glared at him with a furious look and broke his nifty little spell with a wandless, nonverbal Finite incantatem. She tried to transmit the message "I will hex you badly for your reckless actions, you hormone-crazy dunderhead" with her piercing, fury-blazing obsidian eyes and smiled satisfied at seeing his blood-drained face.

She noticed from the corner of her eyes how Regulus observed their nonverbal communication with barely hidden disdain, distrust, and hatred. If looks could kill, Sirius would have been dead thousand times over. Regulus followed Sirius's every move with squinty eyes, stabbing his joint roast venison in anger and gulping down his red wine in frustration. "Merlin, I really need to reassure Regulus as soon as possible that my doomed marriage won't change our close friendship. He needs to know that I can keep his brother in check. I'm a strong young woman who won't be bullied and controlled by her husband. His protective behavior is sweet in a way, but I can win my own battles. Sure, I will need his support, but he shouldn't treat me like a damsel in distress who needs to be rescued from the big bad dragon by her white knight in shining armor. Men," Serena scoffed in her thoughts. She tried to communicate to Regulus with a silent nod and reprimanding look that everything was going to be alright and that he should slow down on his alcohol consumption. An intoxicated best friend wouldn't be a help to her at all.

Thankfully, Regulus was still able to comprehend her facial expressions, so that he only nipped at the red wine thereafter and relaxed his hostile attitude towards his brother somewhat. Serena didn't want to be responsible for the final break of the brotherly bond between Regulus and Sirius, for she knew that they loved each other deep down and longed to regain their close childhood bond. Sure, Sirius had hurt Regulus terribly by cutting him out of his life for being sorted into Slytherin and by replacing him with James Potter, but he still was his big brother that had protected him from their mum's fury and experienced countless adventures with him. He loathed him for his bullying antics and sometimes wanted to throttle his neck, but his negative character traits couldn't extinguish the hope inside Regulus's heart to get his brother back.

Although Serena didn't know the workings of Sirius's mind or the dealings of his heart, she imagined that he also wanted to reestablish their brotherly love, for Sirius's grey eyes transmitted a longing for love, friendship, honesty and trust in his most vulnerable moments. Naturally, he tried to act as the reckless Bad Boy, brave prankster, and sadistic bully most of the time at Hogwarts to keep his status as the Hogwarts heartthrob, clown, and popular guy. But in Serena's eyes, he only played a role to hide his insecurities and vulnerabilities. For the guy Regulus traced in his tales wasn't cruel by nature. Like any kid, he longed to be loved by his parents, hero-worshipped by his little brother, liked by his friends and praised for his talents. Sirius had learned in his childhood that he couldn't win his mum's love by being a sweet intelligent son and couldn't gain his peers' friendship by being the Black heir, for they mistrusted any Black due to their dark reputation.

Hence, he decided to be the black sheep of the Black family by breaking his mum's rules, building up his I-don't-care Bad Boy image and getting sorted into Gryffindor. If his mum could never love him anyways, he would embarrass her in the Pure-blood community and live the life of the self-independent daring rebel. His creative pranks, disdain for his family and cruel bullying turned bullies like James Potter or Lucas Wood into his close mates. His Bad Boy aura, good looks, and dark charms turned airheads like Louise Waters or Nina Daniels into his love-crazy fangirls. And his genius in Transfiguration and his extraordinary talent in Defense against the Dark Arts let his professors overlook his bullying. He had achieved many of his dreams – to be loved by his friend, admired by his peers and praised by his teachers. Sure, he had lost the hero-worship of his little brother by avoiding the Slytherin teen like the plaque and bullying his best female friend, but every achievement required sacrifices, right?

A horrifying thought crossed Serena's mind. Perhaps, the sweet loyal boy Sirius Black would forever be lost to the moody bullying Bad Boy, for he got addicted to being loved, liked, admired and feared. Merlin, if she had bad luck, Sirius needed to be egged on by Potter during their pranks, admired by the Gryffindor dunderheads for his childish pranks against Slytherin and chased by love-crazy girls to feel happy, satisfied and valuable. Serena prayed that Sirius's kind nature wasn't buried irrevocable under his Bad Boy persona, for she couldn't make a marriage work with a sadistic bully. Thence, she hoped that Sirius hadn't been consumed by his mask.

With so many disturbing thoughts flying through her mind, she couldn't enjoy the sweet taste of her crème brûlée. It somehow tasted like ash on her tongue, for her anxiety spoiled her appetite and trapped her mind in dark visions. She blocked them out with her Occlumency shield, but her feelings of uneasiness and misery wouldn't leave her. Thence, she tried to gather some strength of her warm winter coffee and the presence of her best friend and loved ones. A loud voice inside of her head tried to chase away her fears and doubts by reassuring her of her strong support system, cunning mind and her fiancé's longing for happiness, companionship, and peace.

Her grandfather's booming baritone, who announced that the adults would go into their living room now to plan their engagement party, trip to St. Moritz and exchange the first ideas for their wedding, startled Serena from her conflicted thoughts. He ordered the twins to go into their new adventure room for at least two hours and addressed her in a somber tone. "Serena, I will leave you and the two Black boys alone. You can get to know your fiancé better outside of Hogwarts and try to work out some common ground for your engagement. I can count on Regulus to keep his brother in line and mediate between you if they need should arise. We will come back into the dining room in two hours to inform you about the results of our talks. Keep being strong, sweetheart." He kissed her on her right cheek gently and summoned the house-elves to clear away the dishes. She observed in a dazed state how her grandparents walked, whispering to each other in hushed voices, out of the dining room followed by her parents, who clung to each other in comfort, and Mr. and Mrs. Black, who seemed to be engaged in a bitter argument.

Serena shook her head. This wedding plans could only go to hell. To guarantee them some privacy, she uttered a wandless Muffliato and attacked Sirius immediately with a well-placed Avis and Opugno. As the yellow birds cut his handsome face, she screamed at him, "How dare you attack me with some Illusional Kissing Spell at the dining table in front of our families? Did you want to embarrass the ugly know-it-all into running out of this room, crying her eyes out in misery and submitting to your rules? I have a newsflash for you, Sirius Orion Black. I won't be intimidated by your cruel bullying, lewd remarks or possessive behavior. I'm my own person and I will fight for my ideals and dreams in this fucked up marriage. I don't want to be tied down to you for life either, but I won't let you destroy my life." She noticed with a vindictive gleam in her eyes how he couldn't cower away from the sharp beaks of her plumy friends and a layer of fresh cuts appeared on his face.

Feeling slightly guilty for his injuries and realizing that her attack was counterproductive in reaching a deal with him, she stopped her spell and looked at him in a defeated manner. "I'm sorry for hurting you. Violence and revenge aren't usually parts of my nature. But I couldn't think of any other way to hammer my message into your skull." She registered the hurt look in Sirius's grey eyes and approached him like a caretaker would close in on a caged wild animal. "Well, you have messed everything up big time, Prince. Congratulations on securing yourself a life in misery," a mocking voice echoed inside her head that sounded uncannily like James Potter.

Serena blocked it out and focused on trying to redeem herself. She touched Sirius's cheek with her left hand gently, caressed his cuts and looked into his pissed-off hurt grey eyes. "I won't hurt you, Sirius. I only want to heal the cuts that I have foolishly caused," she mumbled in a regretful voice. His eyes widened in shock, but he nodded once to signal her that he trusted her healing abilities. Serena took her wand into her right hand, touched his face with it and uttered Vulnera Sanentur repeatedly in a sing-song voice. His superficial cuts closed immediately and she cleaned his blood-stained face and clothes with a simple Blood-Removing Spell. Scanning his face for any other injuries, she stepped back from him and exclaimed, "I'm really sorry for losing my temper like this, Sirius. I will control it better in the future. But you always manage to infuriate me and your Illusion Spell wasn't fun for me at all. My Healing Spell removed all of your cuts. So, you don't need to worry. You still look as handsome as ever".

Serena blushed slightly and tried to read his facial reactions. She noticed a tiny smirk appear on his lips and his grey eyes somehow looked less furious. "Count on Sirius Black to be flattered by a simple compliment," Serena thought amused. He addressed her in a raw-sounding voice, "You have some nerve to attack me with tiny birds, Serena. If I hadn't been at the end of this nifty spell, I would have surely laughed hard. It really takes some guts to hex me one minute after our families left this room. You sure are a feisty one. Although I could rip you into pieces for you sneaky attack now, I don't want to share my life with a disfigured wife who wants to murder me in my sleep to get her revenge. Thence, I accept your apology and thank you for restoring my beauty without any scars," he cracked a smile at her.

"I also need to apologize for my Illusion Spell, Serena. Your little display in the entry hall drove me nuts and I wanted to see your calm façade crumble. After thinking some minutes on it, I realize that it was plain wrong of me. I hadn't the right to cast any spell at you and surely not one that simulated passionate kisses on your neck. I'm sorry for hurting you. I don't want to be married to a woman that loathes me and attacks me from any corner. Thence, I solemnly swear to stop my cruel bullying and stupid pranks from now on. We're going to get engaged on Christmas after all," Sirius uttered in a truthful-sounding voice.

Serena was shocked. She hadn't expected that Sirius Black would excuse her reckless attack so soon and even apologize for his hex and past bullying. "It seems like I'm not the only one who has realized that a marriage between two Hogwarts nemesis will only end in despair. Naturally, I can't forgive his years of bullying so easily, but he is trying to make an effort. And his apology sounds authentic," she mused inside her head. She locked her onyx eyes with his grey ones and gifted him a little half-smile. "Although I know that we will probably butt our heads repeatedly during our "get-to-know-each-other-phase", I also realized that we need to have a fresh start in our relationship to make our marriage work. I can't excuse your years of bullying easily, but I will try to see you with new eyes. Hence, I will hold you accountable for your promise from now on. I accept your apology for your reckless Illusion Spell. So, I'm Serena Elena Prince. Nice to meet you." She stretched out her hand in greeting which he kissed gallantly.

There amusing greetings where interrupted by an angry shout. "What the hell is going on here? Did I hit my head hard, got put into a coma and woke up in an alternate reality? What marriage are you talking about? Come on, Serena. You can't marry this bullying man-child. Have you gone nuts? And what Kissing Illusion Spell did you use on my best friend during lunch, Sirius? If you made her feel uncomfortable with your disgusting harassment, I will hex you into oblivion."

"Oh, boy," Serena sighed in her thoughts. "I have totally forgotten that Regulus is still in the room and doesn't know anything about our marriage contract. A pissed-off and feeling betrayed Regulus Black is as hard to handle as a Chinese Fireball. My life as really turned into a soap opera."


	10. Chapter 9 – A shattering house of cards!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena confronted Regulus's furious approach on his brother midways. He had already drawn his wand – a flexible 11 ¾ Elm wand with a Dragon heartstring core – to curse his brother in his enraged state of mind. Serena embraced him tightly around his waist and snuggled her head close to his heart. She registered his escalating heartbeat and quickened breathing and tried to calm him with soothing caresses on his back. She hoped that Sirius wouldn't intervene in her heart-to-heart talk with her best male friend, for he certainly ticked his little brother off right now. Hell, one of his stupid jokes or little jibes would set him off like an exploding bomb. She could only pray to Merlin that Sirius would have the common sense of a compassionate human to not agitate a distressed loved one.

She noticed Regulus's leveled breathing, locked her onyx eyes with his sapphire ones and addressed him in a compassionate voice. "Reg, you aren't losing your mind and are trapped in an alternate universe right now, although my world surely seems surreal since yesterday. Our families have arranged a marriage contract. Sirius and I need to get married in the following summer." Serena stopped her speech, for she noticed Regulus's anger returning in full force. He wrenched himself from her arms, nearly knocking her to the ground in the process and attacked Sirius with a powerful Stinging Hex. "You utter bastard. Why did you persuade our dad to draw up this doomed contract? Do you want to turn my best female friend against me to spite me? Did you not hurt me enough? After replacing me with this fool James Potter due to me being sorted into Slytherin, ridiculing me in front of my friends and bullying my best female friend mercilessly for years, you need to destroy my life by tying Serena down to you for life? Why do you hate me so much, Sirius?", Regulus shouted in an emotional-exhausted voice, breaking down into angry tears.

Serena discerned Sirius silent plea for help and his pained look at Regulus hard words. She approached Regulus like a caretaker would a caged wild animal, threw her arms around Regulus strong back and whispered into his right ear, "Nobody could ever hate you, Reg. Sirius loves you, I love you. Don't think that my marriage to your brother will change our close friendship. Our kind spirited bond will never be broken and I wouldn't dream about replacing you with anyone, for you are unique and unreplaceable. Sirius would never be able to turn me against you because I can't imagine my life without you. So, are you going to calm yourself, throw this unfounded anxiety and anger away and listen to our story?" She moved around Regulus body, searched his blue eyes for his agreement and squeezed his hand in encouragement.

Perceiving his single nod, she transfigured their huge dining table into three royal blue velvet armchairs and one vintage couch table, placed them in a semicircle around the table and guided Regulus to the right armchair. She urged Sirius, who was still clutching his hurt right shoulder, with a jerk of her head to lounge himself in the left armchair and seated herself in the middle one, never letting go of Regulus hand.

She gathered her thoughts together and addressed her best male friend in a calm voice. "You have got it all wrong, Reg. Sirius didn't urge your dad to draw up this blasted marriage contract. Come on, do you really think Sirius would want to be married to the wallflower potions' genius?" She asked him in a sarcastic voice. Regulus looked at her incredulously and answered her in a scoffing tone, "I would not put such an action past this childish bastard, Serena. Everyone would be happy to be married to such a beautiful, intelligent and talented young woman. Please, never insult your beauty in my presence again, butterfly. You know that the verbal bullying of this douche bag contains nothing but lies. He tries everything to make you miserable. And this marriage contract seems to be his newest scheme." He glared at Sirius murderously and flexed his right hand dangerously around his wand.

"Reg, you can't be serious. I'm not the devil you make me out to be. I don't want to share my life with a miserable wife, raising kids in a house full of coldness, disdain and darkness and wallowing in self-pity and regrets. You know that I would never condemn any kids to experience the childhood we had. I'm sorry for my bullying actions against Serena and for cutting ties with you. I was blinded by my prejudices against Slytherins and my desire to distance myself from the Black reputation. I could never hate you, Reg. You're still my little brother. I love you and would never try to destroy your life," Sirius pleaded in an emotional voice with his little brother.

But Regulus only sneered at his words and snarled in an embittered voice, "You can't manipulate me with fake words, Sirius. You have successfully extinguished the kind soul of my childhood hero and protective bigger brother to become the loved and feared popular Gryffindor Bad Boy, Sirius Black. I won't fall for your empty love declarations and apologies. And you can kiss this marriage contract goodbye because I won't sit idly on the sidelines while you turn the life of my best friend into a living nightmare. Your game is up." Sirius looked utterly flabbergasted at the smug face of his little brother.

Serena couldn't take the pain, heartbreak, and despair, that was oozing off the Black brothers like a dark cloud, any longer. She needed to make Regulus see reason, drop his ridiculous conspiracy theory and listen to their story. Hence, she put her hand on his left knee to gain his attention and looked him deeply in the eyes. "Reg, please stop your conspiracy theory. You sadly don't know what you're talking about. Sirius didn't arrange this marriage between us to trap me inside a loveless marriage. Our marriage contract was arranged between our families long before our births. If you trust me, will you please listen to our story without interrupting me?" She asked in a hopeful tone.

Regulus still looked conflicted but nodded once to signal her to go on with her tale. "I don't know how much your dad has told you about the history between our families, but my grandpa and your granddad Arcturus had been best friends at Hogwarts. They wanted to strengthen their bond and prestige of their families by connecting the Black and Prince lines through marriage. Therefore, they set up a marriage contract in the early fifties between my mum and your dad. But my mum had been in love with your dad's cousin, Sebastian, loathed your dad for his childish pranks and feared his possessive nature. Hence, she ran away from home at sixteen, hide in the Muggle world and started to live a Muggle life without magic to escape a loveless marriage. Your dad and granddad had been furious at the scandal and embarrassment her vanishing caused them.

"The Daily Prophet must have run several articles that portrait your dad as a cruel bastard and self-pompous git. To rebuild their good reputation and get some retribution from my grandpa, Arcturus persuaded him to sign a new wedding contract between the eldest male heir of Orion Black and the eldest female heiress of Eileen Prince. To prevent history from repeating itself, your granddad included a binding clause into the contract. If one of their grandchildren tried to escape this marriage, they would both be forced to live a life without magic."

Serena paused there, exchanged a glance with Sirius and looked in Regulus's chalklike face. "As you can see, we're both forced into this marriage against our wills. I can't prevent it from happening, for I wouldn't survive a life without magic. Reg, you know how much I love studying ancient magical texts, creating new spells or experimenting with new potions. I wouldn't be me without my magical powers." She explained in a defeated-sounding voice.

"No, Serena, don't talk like this. We can surely find a way to dissolve this marriage contract. You don't have to marry my brother. We can come up with something to prevent this fucked up marriage. Perhaps, my dad could annul it. Don't lose your hope, butterfly. You won't have to choose between a marriage to your Hogwarts bully and a life without magic," Regulus squeezed her hands with a determined hopeful look in his blue eyes.

Serena felt horrible for crashing down his hopes. But she couldn't let him believe that everything could turn out alright, for this would be a lie. "Reg, believe me, that my grandpa has searched for any loopholes in this contract. There sadly aren't some. He consulted any ancient book he could find on marriage contracts, let my stepdad Sebastian examine it with his legal team and even bribed the goblins to help him, but the contract is waterproof. The only person who would be able to annul it is your granddad, but he can't do it for he is under disability due to his Alzheimer's disease. Sirius and I have to face the truth and accept our impending marriage." She uttered in a regretful-sounding voice.

Regulus wouldn't accept her answer. He pleaded with a stealthy look in his eyes, "No, butterfly. This is the last thing you need to do. If our families want to link the Black and Prince lines due to marriage, we could marry. This would solve our issues." Sirius scoffed at Regulus's words and mumbled in a sarcastic voice, "Reg, I can only imagine that it must be difficult for you to accept that your female bestie will be engaged to me come Christmas. Naturally, it wasn't my Christmas wish to be married at seventeen to Serena Prince and you and she would probably be a better-suited couple, but I'm the only Black brother that fits the bill, for I'm the eldest male heir of Orion Black. Unless you can somehow prove that our she-devil of a mum broke her wedding vows, cheated on dad and foisted an illegitimate son on him, I'm Orion Black's eldest male heir. Although I wouldn't put such scandalous actions past Walburga Black, I guess that my uncanny resemblance to our dad clears away any doubts. I'm sorry, Reg."

Regulus snarled at his brother. Count on him to make a joke out of this situation. He would destroy the life of the nicest and smartest woman in the world, his best friend and secret love, and he could only joke about it. Life was so unfair. Why did his granddad have to set up this contract with the eldest male heir of Orion Black in mind? Why not just any male heir? His dreams would have come true in this case. He wanted to confess his love to Serena on her grandma's New Year's Ball anyways, ask her to be his girl-friend and court her. But now he needed to stand by watching with a broken heart how his arrogant older brother would whisk her away down the aisle.

He couldn't confess his feelings to her now, for that would only complicate her conflicted situation and state of despair. She would probably choose a life as a Squib to spare him his constant heartbreak of watching his brother being the husband of his love. Regulus couldn't let this happen. Therefore, he vowed to protect her against any harm her brother could cause her by loving her from the sidelines, supporting her decision and listening to her sorrows, even if it would shatter his heart into thousand pieces. She was his best friend. And best friends would do anything to make each other happy, even threaten your fool of a brother with constant hexing if he dared to turn her light into darkness.

"Well, Sirius. I think that your date of birth has favored you once again. I can promise you one thing. If you dare to make Serena's life into a living hell by ruling her life, forbidding her to study potions, verbally bullying her and using her as your birthing machine, I will take you down. Blood isn't always thicker than friendship." He growled at Sirius with a look that could kill. Thankfully, Sirius looked truly horrified. But he could also detect another emotion in his grey eyes – pity and sorrow. Regulus suspected that he had noticed the longing gazes, lingering touches, and close hugs that he exchanged with Serena and knew that Regulus was in love with his best female friend. Merlin, he had even mocked him for his Slytherin girlfriend whenever Serena had visited Grimmauld Place and made sexual innuendos about their relationship. Thankfully, Serena hadn't registered that his face didn't only glow red with anger, but also with embarrassment because his brother had outed his feelings. Hell, Sirius had at one time even witnessed a gentle kiss between them. He probably believed that they were secret lovers. This situation was so messed up.

"Reg, I promise you to keep my temper in check and treat Serena nicely. I have already promised her to stop my bullying, keep the Marauders on a leech and see her with new eyes. We will work out the details of our married life during the next months. But I can guarantee you both that I won't sabotage your plans of becoming a Potion Mistress and tie you down to my bed, kitchen and children. Thankfully, I won't even be able to act like the tyrant husband, for granddad envisioned a marriage based on equal rights and duties in our contract. Hence, you can both relax. I can't turn Walburga Black on you," Sirius exclaimed in an honest-sounding voice.

Serena breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like Sirius really wanted to make an effort to start anew. That wiped away some of her fears. "So, his possessive attitude in the entrance hall only seems to have been a ploy to intimidate me," she thought relieved. She wouldn't have stood for it anyway, but it was useful to know that her future husband put on a mask most of the times to cultivate his Bad Boy imagine and hide his real feelings. She was also thankful that Regulus acted like her big protective brother and seemed to support her decision begrudgingly. Although she didn't need to have a white knight in shining armor, his sentiments were sweet and meant a lot to her.

"Reg, thank you for being there for me in this life-changing time. I know that you hate the idea of me being married to Sirius, but we can't escape it. Sirius and I will be engaged in two days. Hence, your support means the world to me. You really are my best friend," she uttered in an emotional voice, hugged him tightly and shed some tears. Regulus whipped away her tears gently, tightened his grip on her waist and whispered into her ear, "I will always be there for you, butterfly. You mean the world to me." They hugged for a minute.

Then, Serena broke free off his arms, composed herself and walked to an empathetic-looking Sirius. "Thank you for trying to stop being a git. Although we both didn't choose this marriage, need to come to terms with our difficult past and work out a way to be friends, I'm optimistic that we can establish a marriage based on honesty, trust, and care with time. We should really set up some guidelines now, for our families will be back in an hour and expect some results. We will be engaged in two days after all. So, I'm Serena Elena Prince. Nice to meet you." She dared to peck a flabbergasted Sirius on his cheeks like the French do in greetings and smiled at him. His grey eyes sparkled at her and he returned her greetings with feathery kisses. "I'm Sirius Orion Black. It is my pleasure to get to know you," he exclaimed in an amused voice.


	11. Chapter 10 – Sharing your dreams can be enlightening!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena rolled her eyes. Count on Sirius Black to turn up his charm in their fake new getting-to-know-each-other-phase. Men, as if she didn't know that he flirted with every girl at Hogwarts. All these airheads that gushed about his Bad Boy aura, Prince Charming looks and daredevil nature were really tiresome. They gossiped about his risky flying style on the Quidditch pitch, his masterful kissing technique, and his fun-, alcohol- and cigarettes-loving party style. Some even would faint if he smiled at them or blush pink if he said something nice to them. But Sirius would very quickly learn that she wasn't one of his groupies who lived to be his girlfriend and dreamed of marrying him. She couldn't be impressed by daring Quidditch moves, foolish fistfights or cruel pranks. She would only give a guy a chance whose actions spoke of respect, empathy, and care for others, whose eyes sparkled with excitement on learning something new or solving a riddle and whose ideals and words were true to himself. Hence, Sirius had to up his game to impress her.

She wouldn't forget his past actions easily. But she had vowed to see him with new eyes. Hence, she tried to make an effort and broke the awkward silence. "I think the first step of getting to know each other would be to exchange some basic information. We could share them time-saving by a Q and A. We will both state two facts about us at a time, ask two questions and answer them honestly in a circle. My birthday is on the 9th of January 1960 and my wand is a fairly flexible 10 ¾" Ebony wand with a Phoenix feather core that is decorated with belladonnas on the handle. When is your birthday? And which wand did choose you at Ollivander's?" Serena asked in an interested sounding tone.

Sirius chuckled slightly. Count on Serena Prince to go all business on him. Sure, she was right that they needed to get to know each other in as less time as possible. And her nifty game would guarantee that. But she looked so cute with her sparkling intelligent onyx eyes and her scrunched up nose that he couldn't help to wonder why he had bullied her all those years. Naturally, her being a Slytherin who knew any existing dark curses and liked to experiment with obscure potions made her suspicious in his eyes. And her sarcastic humor, snarky attitude, and know-it-all nature drove him insane. But these observations didn't explain why he tormented her like he used to do with his Marauder friends. Perhaps, he had bullied her for she presented the perfect heir any pure-blooded Slytherin family would parade around. Or he had been envious of her happy family life. He couldn't understand his reasons now for Serena had never done anything to him. She had never attacked him first, laughed about him behind his back or badmouthed him to his brother.

He would have to reflect his bullying past for another time, for she awaited his answers now. Merlin, he would have never guessed that her wand core was a Phoenix feather for phoenixes were bright strong-willed and independent animals. Thence, Phoenix feather wands were hard to control and very initiative. But if he thought back on Serena's feisty attitude and the magnitude of her magical powers, he could see why she had been chosen by a Phoenix feather wand. Startled from his buzzing thoughts by a finger-snap of Serena, he widened his grey eyes and apologized in a calm voice.

"Sorry, that I zoned out on you, Serena. But my mind was clouded with thoughts. Your game is a genius idea, by the way. My birthday is on the 3rd of November 1959. Hence, I'm roughly two months older than you. I guess that makes me the wiser one," Sirius laughed good-naturedly. "My wand is a pliable 12 ½" Blackthorn wand with a Unicorn hair core that is decorated with constellations at the handle. I have a beautiful dark-brown barn owl with blue eyes, Hermes, as a familiar. And I love Muggle music. I'm a huge fan of the Rolling Stones and Beatles. Which familiar do you have? And which music do you love?" He questioned in an intrigued voice.

Serena rolled her eyes. Count on Sirius Black to love listening to Muggle music, especially the Rolling Stones. It so fit into his Bad Boy image. But it surprised her that he loved listening to the Beatles, for she was also a huge fan of their music. "It seems like I have something in common with Sirius Black after all", she mused in her mind with a cheeky smile. "I would have never expected it." But Sirius's love for the Muggle culture was a constant topic of gossip in Hogwarts. It showed his rebel nature, for any Black – besides Regulus and Andromeda – loathed anything Muggle. His Unicorn hair wand was also a surprise for her because unicorns were so pure, valuable and vulnerable creatures. Perhaps, there was more to Sirius Black than his reckless nature.

She let her gaze wander to Regulus, who pierced Sirius with his sapphire eyes. He was clearly still pissed about their impending marriage and suspicious of his brother's motives. His declaration of support didn't change his mistrusting nature one bit. He clearly thought that this whole new meeting act was a silly ploy. Serena hoped that he would come around and see his protective loyal brother in Sirius again for their sakes. Although she hadn't a sibling who was close to her age, she couldn't imagine loathing the twins in the future. They were so sweet, funny, loveable and magical talented that she couldn't help herself but love them. And that would never change regardless of them growing up and turning into moody teenagers.

She cleared her mind and locked her obsidian eyes with Sirius's grey ones which were scanning her like an X-ray. It almost felt like he wanted to perform Legilimency on her or see to the bottom of her soul. It unnerved her, for Sirius Black had never looked with keen interest, awe, and excitement at her. He had always looked down at her, pierced her with an angry glare or ridiculed her with an evil sneer. She tried to block her bad memories out and focus on their fresh start. "Perhaps, this new grown-up Sirius can be your friend. I mean you have to marry him eventually, so a friendship based on shared interests and future goals would be useful. Open up to him and see him with new eyes," an optimistic-sounding voice encouraged her in her thoughts.

She tried to override her long silence with funny remarks. She didn't want Sirius to think she was bat-shit crazy after all. "Well, I would have never guessed that the Bad Boy Sirius Black has a Unicorn hair wand. It seems too girly for you," she cracked him a loppy smile, which he returned with a grin of his own. "I approve of your taste in music, for I love the Beatles. I have a Muggle Grammophon inside of my room with a shelf full of Beatles' records because I love listening to their unique melodies and lyrical texts. We can check it out together on another day," she promised in an excited voice, amused by the light that shone in his eyes. "I also have an owl as a familiar, although my Snowy owl, Belladonna, has a more unique name than your familiar. I suppose you aren't so creative in naming your loved ones. I only hope that you will be more creative in naming our kids, " she joked smirking slightly. Sirius reacted to her jibe with a playful shake of his head. "I love to create new spells, experiment with potions and read classical English and American literature in my free time. Shakespeare, Poe, and Hemmingway are my favorites. What do you like to do in your free time? I dream of becoming a famed Potions Mistress who cures lycanthropy in the future. What do you dream about?" She questioned him in a smooth voice.

Sirius's eyes widened in shock. He knew that Serena Prince aspired to become a Potions Mistress and the CEO of Prince Potions in the future. And he had no doubts that she would achieve her goals with ease, for she was a Potions genius. But he would have never bet that she aimed to find a cure for lycanthropy. "Merlin, this could change Remus's life. He could live a happy life without painful transformations, societal discriminations, and poverty. He will be overjoyed to hear about it and I don't doubt that Serena will find a way to invent this cure. For she is so intelligent, passionate and creative in Potions that she will undoubtedly invent this cure," he screamed out in joy in his mind. "It shows that she has a good heart and advocates for the justice and rights of disadvantaged humans. I mean I know that the "Hogwarts Fab Five" try to make Hogwarts into a welcoming, prejudice-free community for all with their inter-houses clubs and I secretly admire them for their courage because all students really have to overcome their house-related prejudices. I'm the prototype of a foolish boy who has been blinded by his prejudices against Slytherins. And I'm aware that she encouraged Reg to convince our dad to campaign for the rights of house-elves which earned him a nasty argument with our she-devil of a mum anyways. But her constant work for the underprivileged of the Magical community wasn't on my radar. She truly is awesome," a stunned voice uttered in his thoughts.

Her playful banter, interests in Muggle literature and music also made Sirius see Serena in a new light. Who would have thought that she loved reading Hemmingway? Or had a fucking Muggle Grammophon with Beatles' records in her room? Naturally, Sirius knew that Serena had grown up in the Muggle world for the first eleven years of her life and therefore must know all about TVs, cinemas, radios, and cars. Merlin, she could educate him on Muggle culture, for although he tried to sponge up as much as possible from Remus's home or Muggle-raised kids in the Gryffindor common room, he still felt horribly uneducated about the foreign Muggle word. He didn't really know how a TV or the radio functioned, how Muggles dressed or how their magical invention "electricity" worked. He had taken Muggle Studies with the hope to learn more, but their fool of a teacher only educated them on Muggle literature, customs, and laws. Hence, he had creeped out secretly into Muggle London, visited a bookstore and bought a book on Muggle cars and bikes as well as some records in a music store. But it wasn't enough to still his curiosity. Serena could clearly change that.

He smiled at her and looked into her curious-looking face. Merlin, she probably thought that he was some nutty loon, for he needed so much time to answer her questions. He cleared his tone and addressed her in an earnest tone. "I can't put into words how much I admire you for your goal to cure lycanthropy. It will make so many people happy and will enable them to live a normal life without pain and discrimination. On the day your potion lunches, I will be the proudest husband in the world," he paused their, for he noticed Serena's adorable blush. She really looked beautiful with a little color on her cheeks. Sirius smirked, pleased that he was able to enact such a reaction from his fiancée.

"I'm sure that you will invent this cure for you are a true creative genius in Potions and can achieve anything you dream of. I also can't wait to check out your Grammophon, for I haven't listened to one previously. I bet the Beatles sound heavenly on it," he graced her with a lopsided grin. "I love to fly through the air on my broom, training daring moves and enjoying the wind blowing through my curls, to party with my friends in the Gryffindor common room, drinking butterbeers and cracking silly jokes, as well as to up my Transfiguration skills by transforming my room. I dream about becoming an Auror in the future who helps to catch dark wizards and make the Wizarding community into a safer place. I also dream about living a happy life with a beautiful self-independent wife, three cute kids, and a family dog. I hope that we can make our dreams come true together," he exclaimed with a sparkle in his eyes.

Ignoring the scoffs of his brother who laughed - "Please, Siri. Who are you trying to kid with this lies? Serena won't fall for it" – he locked his grey eyes with his fiancée's stunning obsidian ones. He could somehow see his dreams reflected in them. She also longed to live a happy life with a loyal caring husband, a bunch of adventurous kids and a beautiful home. Perhaps, they could live out their dreams together after all. Naturally, he knew that they didn't love each other, weren't even friends and had some bad blood in their past that he had mostly caused through his cruel bullying. They would need time to act like a happy couple. But he would do anything to make his dreams come true. And since he had to marry Serena without the option of a divorce and a binding Fidelity Spell in action, he had to up his game to make them come true with her. And judging by this little Q & A game, it wouldn't be such a hard path after all.

Serena was speechless. Sirius had basically voiced her dreams. He wanted to have a happy life with an easy-going marriage, smiling kids and a nice house. If she didn't know it better she would have guessed that Sirius had performed Legilimency on her. But it seemed that Sirius Black was an ordinary wizard after all and dreamed about the same things most people dreamed of. Sure, she couldn't forget his bullying with a flick of her wand, be his close friend and eventually happy wife easily, but their shared future dreams were a good start for their engagement. Naturally, Sirius dreamed of becoming an Auror who would chase dark wizards and bring them to justice. His Auror training and work life would be a tough challenge for their married life, for it was a very time-consuming, dangerous and hard job. But she hoped that Sirius would reduce his workload to spend more time with his kids and her because she didn't want to feel like a single mum. She would have to juggle her job as a Potions Mistress with parenting her kids and keeping the household tidy anyways. Therefore, she expected that Sirius would support her and be a hands-on dad. Judging by his earlier outburst about his miserable childhood, he clearly wanted to be a loving parent with time for his kids. Hence, they would hopefully find a way to manage their careers and family life efficiently.

She smiled at Sirius and mumbled in a dazed voice, "I also hope that we can make our marriage work and fulfill our dreams. Surprisingly, we seem to have a lot in common and a solid ground to build a friendship on. But I guess we should stop our little Q & A session here, for we need to agree on some basic rules for our engagement. I will summon the house-elves to serve us some hot chocolate so that we can work out a deal in a happy mood." Serena summoned her house-elf Tiny and ordered some cocoa. They had to agree on how their engagement party and engagement time at Hogwarts should look like. This should be fun.


	12. Chapter 11 – Mapping out your engagement deal can be fun!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Sirius chuckled at Serena's business-like attitude. Merlin, she was a feisty one for sure. But he liked that about her. He wouldn't have been happily married to a docile submissive airhead that gushed about his good looks, threw meaningless society parties and fulfilled any of his wishes without her own ideas and opinion. He could imagine that Serena's and his marriage would be a passionate story. And he couldn't wait to experience new adventures with her. For although she had quite a no-nonsense and bossy nature, she also was kind to her house-elves at treated them with respect. She smiled at Tiny when she balanced three mugs of hot chocolate on a tray, thanked her for her good work and ordered her to enjoy an hour playing with her friends in the snow.

Sirius's eyes widened. Naturally, his brother was also fond of their house-elves, praised them for their work and tried to talk to them like they were his friends, but he had never witnessed him ordering them to enjoy their free time lazying around. Hell, if their she-devil of a mother ever caught him ordering their house-elves to enjoy a walk in the park, she would curse them with a dark curse and scold Regulus for his un-pure-blood-like behavior. She tortured their house-elves regularly, and when their dad had campaigned successfully to grant them some money, she hexed him with a dark Stinging Hex, insulted him as a soft blood-traitor and vowed to only pay their house-elves one Knut a week. Sirius scoffed. "How much I hate this shrinking hag of a woman. She terrorizes our whole family, isn't capable of love and hurts us with dark hexes. Our lives would be so much better without her," he screamed inside his mind.

Clearing his mind from his buzzing thoughts, Sirius looked at the pissed-off face of his little brother who had lounged himself lazily into the armchair on Serena's right side, clutching his warm chocolate in a vicelike grip and talking to Serena in hushed voices. "Hell, his whole world is crumbling down around him right now. I know that he is in love with Serena, gushing about her like she is the eighth world wonder and raving about her dark beauty. This is all so fucked up. Why do I have to marry Reg's love interest? Merlin, he has told me with sparkling eyes about their experimental kisses, asked for some pointers on how to make her enjoy their kisses more and even confessed that he had wet dreams about her in a drunken heart-to-heart. This messed up marriage contract is breaking his heart and I can't do anything about it," he thought in a desperate voice.

He wanted to see Regulus's sapphire eyes sparkle with joy, a huge smile plastered on his face and his love tightly embraced in his arms, but he had stolen this happiness away from him. He could only hope that he would be able to move on from his crush on Serena, be a supportive best friend to her and stop his hatred of him. He wanted to have his brother back who joked around with him, looked in awe at him and loved him for his true self. He guessed that he would only get him back, if he stopped his bullying of Slytherins, tried to mend the broken inter-houses relationships and treated Serena like a true gentleman. He vowed to be a changed man in the summer term at Hogwarts.

He took a sip from his hot chocolate, feeling warmth rushing through his veins and happy memories appear in front of his eyes. Remus loved to drink cocoa for it always reminded him of happy childhood memories with his mum. Therefore, he nicked four mugs of hot chocolate from the kitchen at Hogwarts every Friday, shared them with the Marauders and told them fantastic tales about his childhood adventures in the Muggle world. His amber eyes sparkled with joy and his lips turned up into a lopsided smile while he entertained them in an animative voice about his happy childhood. He seemed to be able to forget his lycanthropy for some minutes and enjoy his life. Hence, hot chocolate reminded him of his carefree smiling best friend Remus Lupin.

Sirius cleared his voice, interrupted the tense talk between Serena and Regulus and addressed them in a playful tone. "Although I enjoy drinking this excellent cocoa in silence, I think that we should really agree on some ground rules for our engagement now. Our parents will be back in thirty minutes and kill us on the spot if we don't come up with some results. I really can't take more screeching of my mum today, hence let us proceed if you are ready. You can surely try to solve your issues in a private talk later today." He locked his grey eyes with Serena's obsidian ones, detecting surprise, gratitude, and uneasiness in them and gifted her with an honest smile. He wanted to dismiss her fears and exude that everything would somehow turn out alright. He ignored the angry sneers of Regulus and focused on Serena's voice.

She uttered in a business-like tone, "You're right, Sirius. We should really move on to map out some simple rules for our engagement. We will be engaged in two days after all. I don't know how much your dad enclosed to you about our marriage contract, but my grandpa thankfully discussed it in detail with me. Hence, I know exactly what we are dealing with. As you probably know, we will be married in the summer for life in a marriage based on equal rights and duties. Besides that, a Fidelity Spell and Fertility Charm will be placed upon us on our wedding day to heighten the chance of healthy magically powerful legitimate offsprings." Serena paused here, blushing slightly pink and fluttering her dark eyelashes at her fiancé. Merlin, she really looks adorable like this, a tiny voice whispered inside his mind.

To lessen her discomfort, Sirius exclaimed in a soft compassionate voice, "Dad enclosed the basics to me. I know that we will be engaged at my mum's Christmas Eve ball and married in the summer. I'm also aware of the legal nature of our marriage and the fact that a Fidelity Spell will be placed upon us. I can promise you that I will honor our wedding vows and I wouldn't have broken them even without a Fidelity Spell in action."

Regulus laughed miserably at this and shouted in an enraged voice, "Don't lie to us, Sirius. Everyone at Hogwarts knows everything about your womanizing ways. You flirt shamelessly with every girl that smiles at you, snog every girl senseless that allures you and shag every girl that gives it up to you. You leave broken hearts all over the place. So don't preach about fidelity, honor, and care to us. You don't have a faithful bone in your body, have lost your honor ages ago and have never shown any care to your brainless bimbos. If this nifty Fidelity Spell didn't make you impotent when you shagged someone else, you would undoubtedly cheat on Serena countless times. But I can promise you that I will beat you into a pulp if I ever have to comfort your crying wife because you made out with some whore."

Sirius was shocked. Naturally, he knew all about the gossips of his womanizing ways at Hogwarts. He had even highlighted some rumors to seem like the sinfully handsome Bad Boy. But that Regulus thought him capable of cheating on his wife, was a new low for him. It only emphasized how broken their brotherly bond really was. "If he knew that I'm still a virgin, for I haven't shagged anyone, he would call me a shameless liar. Sure, I have snogged some girls, enjoyed some handjobs and blowjobs in hidden cupboards or empty classroom and reciprocated their sexual acts by pleasuring them with my fingers and tongue, but I have never gone further. Merlin, judging by Serena's stone-faced expression, she also believes me to be some two-timing heartbreaking man-whore," he realized in a panicked voice. Attack was his best defense.

"Reg, don't talk shit about me. You know how gossips don't have to be the truth. Or did you really take Priscilla Parkinson's virginity on the Astronomy tower? I swear to you that I will never cheat on Serena. If you don't trust my words, I would also gladly take an Unbreakable Vow. And if I ever leave Serena back in tears due to my actions and words, you can gladly beat me into a pulp. It would be the only thing I deserved," he exclaimed in a hurt voice. Serena broke their pity fight with a determined shout. "Stop your ridiculous fight, we don't have time for this now. Although I have naturally heard gossip about your sexual conquests, I won't judge you for them. And I know how false gossip spreads around Hogwarts. Or do you believe that I'm a vampire? So, please, Reg, stop acting like my father. I can defend myself if Sirius hurts me. You won't have to take an Unbreakable Vow to prove your fidelity to me, Sirius. I have to trust your words if we want to make our marriage work. You can be sure that I would never break my wedding vows, and I expect the same from you. Do you already have a plan for how we are going to survive our engagement party?" She asked in an annoyed-sounding tone.

"Count on boys to be boys and accuse each other of being man-whores. Naturally, I can see with my own eyes how the girls are drawn to Sirius, how he flirts with them and vanishes into empty classrooms with some beauties. On one occasion, I had the misfortune to see a well-shagged looking Sirius leave a broom cupboard with a giggling blonde bimbo. But I can't condemn him for it. He is a hormone-driven teenaged boy after all, and his lifestyle isn't my business. And as naïve as it might sound I believe him that he would never cheat on his wife. Well, he won't be able to cheat on me with a limp cock anyways," an amused voice whispered inside of Serena's head. "We should really put some rules down how we are going to treat each other as an engaged couple. Judging by his blank face, he hasn't the slightest idea how we should act. Men were really clueless sometimes." Serena chuckled amusedly in her thoughts.

Sirius's slight shake of his black curls provoked an eye roll of his fianceé. "Thankfully, I have already formulated a plan inside of my head. Thence, it seems like our engagement deal will be codified on my terms. All the better for me," she thought smiling evilly.

"Well, if you only come up with a blank sheet, we will have to willy-nilly relay on my ideas. Firstly, we will act civilly with each other in public. No cruel insults, pity jibes or angry glares when we are in a community. Even if we want to hex each other into oblivion or hurt each other with some cruel words, we will keep them to ourselves in public. I know that you are an excellent actor, so use your skills to play the gentlemanly pure-blooded fiancé. We don't have to pretend to be in love with each other, but we should treat each other with respect, honesty, and protectiveness. Secondly, we won't play pretend with each other. No false love declarations, fake smiles, mind games or white lies when we are alone together. If we truly want to get to know each other, we will have to expose our true selves to each other. We need to be honest about our fears and dreams, our weaknesses and strengths and our bad memories and future hopes." She paused here and looked in his focused grey eyes.

She could detect a fear to mess everything up but also a determination to show his true colors in them. "It seems like he is game for my first two rules. If I interpret the light in his agate irises right, he longs to have a close friend who accepts him for who he is and shares his dreams. Although his bond to James Potter seems to be tight-knitted, I always thought that it was rather superficial for he always kept his Bad Boy mask on in his presence and never looked like he felt truly understood by him. Perhaps, I could be this friend," Serena thought in a hopeful voice.

Seeing his still flabbergasted face, she went on with her speech. "Thirdly, we will only exchange short hugs, tight embraces, friendly nudges, and light cheek kisses if we both feel like it. Naturally, we will have to share a light kiss on our lips during our engagement party but I won't cling to you like a brainless maiden." Sirius laughed good-naturedly at her sarcastic remark. "Hell, she sure is a feisty one. I love it," he thought. "And her rules seem to be fair but brutally honest. I will truly have to change my ways and show her my vulnerable side to win her over. Luckily, I love challenges."

Sirius smirked at her and signaled her to go on with her engagement rules. "Fourthly, we will spend our minimum one hour at Hogwarts with study dates in the library, walks around the Great Lake, flights around the Quidditch pitch and dates inside the Room of Requirement. We will agree on the concrete terms of our meetings based on our study workload and our daily forms. Fifthly, we will protect each other against any harm from others. We will defend us against physical abuse, verbal insults, and hurtful gossip. Sixthly, we will use our St. Moritz Winter holidays to plan our marriage and discuss our future as a married couple. We will set a date and place for our wedding, select our own manor and talk about our views on our family and work life. Seventhly, we will both try to interact with our friends. I will make an effort and try to get to know your Marauders and you will make an effort and try to get to know "The Hogwarts Fab Five". It will both help us to reduce our prejudices against our houses and to improve the inter-houses climate at Hogwarts. Do you agree on this terms? Or do you want to fight some of them? And if you have anything to add, you can disclose it to me too."

Serena locked her obsidian eyes with his grey ones, bit on her bottom lip anxiously and awaited his response with bated breath. Sirius was still awed by her detailed engagement plan. "She has surely thought about this the whole night. Merlin, her mind really works on lightning speed. But her ideas seem sound and I will prove to her that I can excel her expectations," Sirius mused inside of his mind. He smiled at her and uttered in an excited voice, "I agree to your terms, Serena. And I have nothing to add to your rules at the moment. If someone of us comes up with something new, we can discuss it together in the following months. Your engagement plan is well-sound and fair. I vow that I will do everything to meet your requirements. You will love me in no time." Sirius joked with sparkling eyes and extended his hand out to her. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Serena took his warm hand in hers and shook it to seal their engagement deal. Somehow mapping out their engagement deal was fun after all.


	13. Chapter 12 – An olive branch can mend bridges!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena Prince smiled at her fiancé. "Count on Sirius Black to crack a joke at the end of our engagement deal. Yeah, I'm sure gonna love him in no time," she thought shaking her head slightly. "He can be such a man-child sometimes, but it's awesome that he agreed to my terms. I'm relieved that our engagement doesn't seem to be some living hell, for we can't bully or hex each other into oblivion. Although I somehow trust his words, I guess that our trip to St. Moritz and our return to Hogwarts will be the first touchstones of his truthfulness. If he defends me against Potter, I'll know that his words aren't some empty shells once and for all. I can't wait to see the dumb face of this dunderhead when Sirius sides with me." Serena's obsidian eyes sparkled with glee. She wanted to ask Sirius about his favorite Beatles' song and show him her Grammophon when their dining room doors were opened and their families stepped in.

They quickly jumped up from their armchairs. Serena blushed slightly at her grandpa's confused look and transfigured their armchairs and couch table back into their dining table and chairs. He chuckled good-naturedly at her transfiguration skills and whispered something in the ear of her grandma, which made her laugh. Her mum and stepdad looked as if they had survived a taxing boxing fight. Her mum's pale face was heated in anger, her porcelain skin sweaty and her jet-black bob clung flatly to her cheeks. Her obsidian eyes pierced Orion Black with a scathing glare and she looked as if she wanted to attack him with a nasty dark curse. Her stepdad's icy-blue eyes looked exhausted and he exuded a pissed-off aura, although he tried to soothe his furious wife with soft touches and reassuring smiles. Orion Black, on the other hand, looked like his Christmas and birthday wishes had come true. He smiled victoriously at her mum, exuded an air of confidence and arrogance and held his wife's arm in a distant embrace. Though Walburga Black looked like she had eaten a sour lemon, her sapphire eyes sparkled with pure-blood superiority and glee. She obviously loved to see her mum in such a furious and unladylike state.

"I guess our families battled out their own fights in grandpa's study. And judging by the defeated and furious look on my mum's face, the Blacks won this round. Merlin, I hope that they can somehow act civilly with each other at our engagement party, during our wedding planning, and at our wedding party, for I can't handle fighting relatives on top of everything else," Serena thought in an annoyed tone.

Her buzzing thoughts were interrupted by the deep baritone of her grandpa. "Serena, my dear. I hope that you have managed to map out your engagement deal without ripping each other's heads off. But judging by your uninjured bodies, you have agreed on something. I'm amazed," he joked good-naturedly. Ignoring the eye roll of his granddaughter, he went on, "Your parents and Sirius's parents have also agreed on some points for your engagement party and skiing trip to St. Moritz after exhausting negotiations. Eileen, my love, would you be so kind to disclose them to our engaged couple?" He asked in a soft tone.

While her mum looked as if she wished she was on a sole island instead of at this awkward family gathering, she approached Serena and Sirius and exclaimed in a calm voice. "Serena, my love, Sirius. We have decided to announce your engagement on Walburga's Christmas Eve Ball and in a notification in the Daily Prophet. We expect that you treat each other civilly and put on a brave face in front of the gathered Wizarding community. We will go shopping for an appropriate dress and jewelry tomorrow, Serena. As Walburga has already selected a dark-blue suit for Sirius, we will shop for an indigo dress by Madame Malkin's. We will be expected at Grimmauld Place at 6 o'clock in the evening on Christmas Eve. Hence, we will transfer our Christmas celebrities to a morning brunch. As you both know from your Pure-blood culture lessons, you are required to seal your engagement with a brief kiss on the lips. I know that you don't love each other – hell, you don't even like each other – but we can't take your feelings into consideration. Hence, please don't cause a scene and act like two self-independent teenagers who want to get to know each other.

"After our New Year's Ball on the 31st , which will be your first official social event as an engaged couple, we will apparate to St. Moritz into our winter vacation. We will stay at the Carlton Hotel and you will share one suite there. Orion has suggested that Sirius should stay at Prince Manor between the 26th and the 31st to get to know you better. We agreed that it would be a lovely opportunity to accustom you to live in one manor together. Hence, Sirius will stay at one of our guest rooms in close proximity to your rooms. Hopefully, you can work out your differences and become friends. Do you have any questions?" Eileen Prince MacMillan asked in an earnest-sounding voice.

Orion Black looked pleased at Sirius's and Serena's ashen faces. He wanted to force them to spend some time together, to set the record straight and move on as friends. "If I had had the chance to spend some time alone with Eileen without my goading friends at Hogwarts and my nagging mum at home, I would have made her fall in love with me. Naturally, she would have still been in love with Sebastian and probably terrified of my closeness, judging by her slap in the face after I forced a kiss upon her lips on the Hogwarts Express, but I would have surely been able to win her over. I mean which girl in her right mind would have been able to resist me, if I flattered her with compliments, listened closely to her interests and declared my crush on her? I only treated Eileen so horribly, because I had a crush on her and didn't know how to handle my overwhelming desire for her, the Potions' obsessed Hogwarts bookworm.

"I knew that she would be my bride eventually, so her lovey-dovey display with my boring cousin Sebastian drove me nuts. It let my blood boil with jealousy and urged me to show my possessive side to her. If I could turn back time, I would act entirely different. I would try to earn Eileen's friendship with shared study sessions, academic debates about Potions and our shared love for arts. I wouldn't insult her looks to egg her on, but compliment her beauty and flatter her with presents. Sadly, I can't turn back time and Eileen will never be mine. But I will do anything to secure that Sirius will have the chance to fall in love with his fiancé," Orion vowed in a determined voice inside of his mind.

Orion cleared his throat and exclaimed in a steady voice, "Believe me, Sirius and Serena, we only want the best for you. And this shared time could help you to establish a friendship. I know that you both are very intelligent teenagers who are deeply loyal to their friends, love music and want to leave their marks in the Wizarding community. Naturally, you have some broken history and misunderstandings looming above your heads, but you will work them out with time. You're going to be engaged in two days after all."

Serena wanted to scream. Naturally, she had agreed to act civilly with Sirius Black, knew that she needed to kiss him on the lips in two days in front of the upper Wizarding society and vowed to establish a friendship with him, but to have him stay at her home for roughly a week? That really took the cake. "Merlin, I have to endure his constant presence for a week. Sure, he will thankfully sleep in the guest room beside my room, but I can imagine him strutting in my room to have long nightly chats. It's going to be a nightmare. And it's all happening way too soon. Yes, I have offered to show him my Muggle records collection and let him listen to my Grammophon, but to have him living inside of my home is a whole different story.

"Regulus stays in my guest room for several weeks in the summer hols, and I enjoy this times immensely. But Regulus is my best friend, kindred spirit and the single human who always manages to make me smile. Whereas his visits at Prince Manor consist of academic debates, fun-filled flying around our Quidditch pitch, laughter-filled hours in front of our Muggle cinema and cuddles-filled reading sessions in our library, Sirius visit would be highly likely filled with awkward talks about our married life, hurtful reminiscing about our past history, silent movie evenings and angry shouting matches. I'll do anything to make his stay at Prince Manor as enjoyable for both of us a possible," she swore in a strong-sounding voice inside of her head.

Serena locked her onyx eyes with Sirius's grey ones. "I can detect a mix of fear, hope and determination in them. Hell, I also haven't dreamed about spending a whole week in Prince Manor. It will only break Regulus's heart more, for I know that he wanted to spend some days after Christmas there. Merlin, why do I need to fuck everything up for Reggie? I want him to be happy. But now, I'm marrying the girl of his dreams and spending some time alone with her. I can only imagine which horrific pictures are flying through Regulus's head at the moment. He probably thinks that I'm going to make a move on her and seduce her into my bed. I really hate my womanizer reputation now. I'm determined to establish a friendship with Serena. And judging by our engagement deal and her fiery look, she is also game for it. Hence, I'm going to make my stay at Prince Manor as friendly and easy-going as possible. I don't want to waste our time with stubborn arguments, awkward silences or clumsy fumblings. I want to show her the real Sirius Black. A guy who loves to listen to Muggle music, to read Edgar Alan Poe and to fly around the Quidditch field. I'll prove to her that I can be a great friend and fiancé. But first, I need to show her that I want to see her happy," Sirius vowed in an emotional voice.

He broke the awkward silence with his calm voice. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Prince, for allowing me to stay at your manor. I'll cherish my time here and try to get to know your granddaughter better. I apologize for the pain and humiliation I caused her in the past, and promise that I'll do anything to make her happy. I hope that we will be able to establish a friendship between us. I especially thank you, Mrs. MacMillan, for your trust in me. I can only imagine that it can't be easy to allow the bully of your daughter a place in your family. I vow to not disappoint your trust in me." Sirius looked at Serena's parents and grandparents with honest eyes.

Then, he turned his attention back to his fiancée, took her delicate soft hand into his and gazed into her stunning obsidian eyes. "Damn, she really is strikingly beautiful. How have I managed to overlook this and branded her an "ugly know-it-all" all those years? But the past is the past. I promise to be a better person now," he mumbled in a sincere tone. "Serena, I can't wait to listen to your records together and fly around your Quidditch pitch with you. Your elegant flying moves and strong blows as a Slytherin beater a really terrifying to us Gryffindors. You helped to score the Quidditch Trophy for Slytherin for four years in a row now. I know that Reggie's genius Seeker skills secure you many victories, but I have experienced the aftereffects of your wicked hits often enough on my own to realize that you are an important asset for Slytherin. I promise that I'll try to keep up with you. But I vow that I'll try anything to establish a friendship between us. If I'm overstepping your boundaries, you can hex me into oblivion. But before we try to form a friendship, I know that you need some alone time with your best friend. Hence, I suggest that Reggie stays until our mum's Christmas Eve Ball at Prince Manor. You can surely need his support by preparing for our engagement party." Sirius ended his speech with a sly smirk.

Serena's eyes widened. She gazed over Sirius's shoulder at the flabbergasted face of Regulus and smiled widely at her best friend. He returned her smile with a smug wink, but still looked puzzled by his brother's peace offering. "Wow, I guess Sirius Black has a good heart after all. To suggest that Regulus spends some days at Prince Manor shows that he wants to mend his relationship with Reg. He naturally detected Regulus's distress over our impending marriage and his fears to be replaced as my best friend. And he seems to be focused on making our week at my home as fun, easy-going and friendly as possible. Naturally, I know that our week will not be all sunshine and roses, but I feel relieved nonetheless. I need some long honest talks, comforting hugs and reassuring words from my best friend.

"And although Sirius isn't my keeper and can't enjoin who I spend my time with on me, it means a lot that he noticed that I need my best friend and voiced his approval of our close friendship. While Sirius doesn't love me, it must be difficult to encourage your brother, who shared his first kisses with your future wife, to spend some alone time with your fiancée. Naturally, I wouldn't betray his trust and our engagement deal by kissing Reg behind his back, for it would be simply wrong to both of them, but I can't help but wonder if I would act so cool if one of his groupies decided to spend some days with him at Grimmauld Place. I know that I'm not his keeper and he can spend his last days before our engagement how he wants, but it would hurt me nonetheless to know that he shagged some blonde big-breasted bimbo. Hence, I can't admire him enough for this olive branch, " Serena thought in an awed voice.

Her obsidian eyes twinkled at Sirius and she answered in a playful tone, "I can't wait to beat you on the Quidditch field, Sirius. I will wreck you, you will see. I hope that you love adventures, for we will undoubtedly spend some hours playing with Aurora and Silas in their new Adventure Room. I trust that you aren't afraid of spiders," she giggled at his fearful face and joked, "Well, I will need to make sure that they won't eat you then. But it's really rare to see a Gryffindor whose afraid of some tinny hairy insects. Were is your Gryffindor bravery when you need them?" She nudged him good-naturally in his side. "Thanks for the suggestion that Regulus should stay some days at Prince Manor. Although I can imagine that our shopping trip will bore him to death, I appreciate having my best friend around till I have to get engaged to his devilish big brother. But I guess he has a heart after all." Serena mused in a happy tone and squeezed Sirius's hand in thanks. "My Christmas wish has come true after all. I'm going to spend some more time with Reg and it seems like my bullying by the Marauders will thankfully be a dark issue of my past, " Serena thought smiling at Sirius's stunned face.


	14. Chapter 13 – The agony of being in love with your best friend!

Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

The sight of Serena cozying up to his brother sickened Regulus. Sure, he knew that they would be engaged in two days and that he couldn't prevent it from happening, but a burning wave of jealousy rushed through his veins. "Why can't I be the lucky Black brother who is getting married to the beautiful brilliant Serena Prince? She is my best friend, love of my life and woman of my wet dreams for Merlin's sake. Sirius is already trying to get into her pants by smiling charmingly at her, giving in to her engagement rules and promising to protect her against Potter. His good-naturedly suggestion of letting me, her best friend, stay at Prince Manor until their engagement party to cheer her up, encourage her optimistic outlook on their marriage and make her smile clearly won him some good points in her books. Why can't Serena see that it's all a game to gain her trust, become her friend and seduce her into his bed? He knows damn well that I wanted to ask Serena to be my girlfriend this Christmas. Therefore, my stay at Prince Manor as her platonic best friend and shopping partner only deals another blow to my broken heart.

"I will never be able to kiss her soft lips again, taste her belladonna and vanilla flavor and confess my love to her because he snatched her away from me. Naturally, I want to be a good friend to her, reassure her that her marriage to my big brother won't be a living hell and enjoy laughter-filled hours with her. But I don't know if my broken heart will be able to take her closeness, self-doubts, unhappiness, and despair without revealing my unrequited love to her and proposing to run away in the Muggle world together. I realize that I shouldn't be selfish and mess up her chance at being happily married to Sirius, but it hurts to see her smile at him and squeeze his hand in gratitude. How much will it hurt to see her kiss him passionately on the lips or to see him caressing her baby bump with love and pride sparkling in his grey eyes? For I know for sure that Sirius can't help himself but to fall in love with Serena in no time. Who could stop himself from loving this stunningly beautiful, wickedly intelligent, fiercely loyal and darkly funny young woman? I can only hope that he won't hurt her or mess their life up with his reckless Bad Boy behavior." Regulus sneered at his pale-faced brother who couldn't believe that Serena Prince had touched him gently.

"Who am I kidding? Sirius will try everything in his power to make Serena fall for him because my sweet protective big brother has always dreamed about having the perfect happy family. He loathes how our parents fight with each other every day, how our mum punishes us with dark curses and how our dad is so occupied with his work at the Ministry that he doesn't seem to care. He vowed to me that he would treat his wife with respect, love her forever and be a hands-on dad with his kids. His whole Bad Boy alter ego is a desperate cry for love. And thanks to this fucked-up marriage contract, Sirius will be married to the loveliest girl in the world who will undoubtedly fall in love with him over time. Hell, how am I going to survive a happily married lovey-dovey Serena and Sirius? My life is so unfair." Regulus screamed in an agony-filled cry inside of his mind. "Come on, Regulus. Don't throw yourself a pity party. Although you will never be Serena's husband, you are still her best friend. And you won't let Sirius replace you in this role. You will take the pieces of your broken heart, glue them together and be there for Serena. She needs you," a fiery voice intoned inside his head.

He cleared his throat and addressed his brother in a scathing tone. "Thank you, Brother, for allowing me to stay at Prince Manor. Though Serena is going to be your fiancée in two days, it doesn't give you the right to decide with whom she spends her free time. She isn't your possession, but your equal-righted fiancée who has a brain and voice of her own. I would have stayed at Prince Manor till Christmas Eve and supported Serena regardless of your blessing. So, please, stop your benevolent fiancé act. It doesn't suit you. I hope that you enjoy Christmas with mum and dad at 12 Grimmauld Place." He smirked smugly at the enraged face of his brother.

"Come on, Sirius. Show your true colors and hex me into oblivion. I know how much you hate to celebrate Christmas with our parents at Grimmauld Place, for our she-devil of a mum will be a bad-tempered sadistic control freak before her Christmas Eve Ball who hexes our house-elves into submission, punishes you for your Bad Boy attitude and forces you to wear a prissy hideous suit. I can only imagine what horrors she will come up with for your engagement party. She probably will force you to wear granddad's family signet ring, to tame your unruly locks into a smooth hairstyle and to uninvite your Marauder fools. O, you poor Black heir." Regulus thought sarcastically.

To his utter surprise, Sirius maintained his cool and smiled charmingly at his fiancée. "Serena, you have to believe me that I will treat you as my equal during our engagement and marriage. I didn't mean to insinuate that you need my approvement before you can meet your friends. I only sensed that you could need the comfort of your best friend. And I'm flattered that you think that I possess more than a heart of stone. I can't wait to show you the depth of my heart during my stay at Prince Manor and our trip to St. Moritz. I trust that you can teach me some wicked skiing moves." He stated with a sly smirk that made her blush lovingly.

"Damn, I guess that he has upped his game to impress her. And it seems to be working," Regulus thought displeased. Serena exclaimed in an honest-sounding voice, "I trust that you will treat me as your equal, Sirius. And I can naturally show you some insane skiing move in St. Moritz. I hope that you won't break your legs by trying to beat me on a downhill race. The true nature of your heart will certainly reveal itself to me during your stay at Prince Manor. I have to warn you. I'm an excellent observer and judge of character. You won't be able to keep up a charade with me. So, don't even try to dissimulate." She urged him with a flutter of her thick black eyelashes. "Merlin, she looks wickedly alluring while batting her eyelashes at me. Does she know how sexy she is? I doubt falling for her will be difficult," Sirius gushed in a dazed voice.

Gazing into Regulus's sapphire eyes, she scolded him for his constant animosity towards his brother. "Reg, I know that it must be difficult for you to see me being forced into a marriage with your brother. I realized that Sirius isn't your favorite person, but I thought that you had agreed upon supporting me during this engagement and giving him another chance. Hell, you even remembered me off his good qualities in your childhood whenever I went in a rant about him. Don't stop believing that you can get your beloved brother back. And don't start thinking that you will lose me to him. You will always be my best friend, Reg. My new status as your sister-in-law won't change anything about it. We are still Regulus and Serena. Slytherin housemates, kindred spirits, nerdy academics, and best friends. Don't ever forget that." She uttered in an emotion-filled voice, walked in front of him and embraced him tightly.

Regulus leaned into her body, embraced her tightly and kissed her gently on her forehead. His face was twisted in an anguished mask. Suppressing his tears with every fiber of his body, for he didn't want to be hexed into oblivion by his mum for embarrassing the Black family, he screamed in his mind. "Serena, why can't you see that everything will change between us? I'm in love with you and I can never be with you because you are the fiancée of my big brother. Can't you detect the bittersweet emotions on my face whenever I embrace you? On the one hand, my heart beats faster, tries to jump out of my ribcage and to burst in flames out of joy and happiness. On the other hand, my heart breaks into million pieces, threatening to be ripped out of my chest and being crushed to death out of despair and hurt. Why has Sirius to be the Golden Boy that gets everything?"

Hearing his she-devil of a mum clear her throat, he broke their embrace, composed his features and looked in her furious face. "Regulus, I expect you to treat your brother's fiancée with a polite distance. These close embraces in public will only create malicious gossip and nasty talks that sully the reputation of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. So, please, refrain from touching her gently, kissing her comfortingly on her cheeks or forehead and smiling at her happily in public. It would not do to have the Wizarding community think that the two Black brothers are in a love triangle with the Prince heiress. I will only allow you to stay until Christmas Eve at Prince Manor if you omit your inappropriate behavior." She stated in a deadly voice, quirking her eyebrow and eyeing Serena as if she wanted to scream "Harlot" at her face.

"Count on my harpy of a mum to fuck everything up. How dare she insinuate that Serena is some easy tart who plays boys and jumps into bed with everyone? She doesn't deserve to be treated like this," he thought in a pissed of voice. Before he could defend her honor, his brother addressed her in an ice-cold tone. "Mother, I urge you to refrain from insulting my fiancée in front of Reggie, her family and me. I know that you aren't happy that I'm going to be married to her, for you don't like the Princes due to father's failed marriage contract with Mrs. MacMillan. But this is no reason to basically call her an easy woman in front of her family and insinuate that she is sleeping around with Reggie. I realize that you don't know anything about friendship for you don't have any close friends and loathe people who show their feelings. But not everyone can be as cold-hearted as you.

"Reggie and Serena are best friends since his first year at Hogwarts. And best friends, regardless of their sexes, naturally share close hugs, comforting touches, and laughter-filled talks. So, don't condemn them for their close friendship and accuse them of having an affair. We aren't in the 1800s anymore where a man and a woman can't see each other without a chaperone. I know that I can trust them. And that Serena isn't some easy girl. So, please refrain from insulting her and your own son." Sirius pierced their mother with a killing glare. Walburga Black seemed to be furious at his words, flexed her fingers around her wand and wanted to throw a Dark Curse at her son, but her husband managed to enclose her hand in a tight grasp to prevent her from causing a scene.

Regulus stated in a cold voice, "Mother, I hope that you take Sirius's words at face value for I won't stand idly on the sidelines if you accuse my best friend and me of having a sordid affair. Serena isn't that kind of girl and I'm ashamed that my own mother could accuse her of something like this. If the minds of you and your gossiping female friends go there, there is something deeply wrong with you. Although you are my mother, you aren't my keeper and I can decide how I treat my friends in public and when I'm going to stay with them. I think it would be better if you leave Prince Manor to cool down, think about your actions and plan your Christmas Eve Ball after you have apologized to Serena and her family." He urged his mother with a determined look into her icy-blue orbs to follow his words, save her face and apologize to Serena.

"Well, I guess Reggie can stand up to our evil witch of a mum if she insults his friends after all. Perhaps, he isn't such a coward and golden son like I thought. Serena seems to really bring out the best in him," Sirius mused, smirking smugly at the dumbfounded and enraged face of their mother. "It seems that mommy dearest didn't think Reggie capable of scolding her in public either. The Black sheep Sirius sure, but not her perfect Slytherin boy. I guess that you have to face Regulus manning up now, mum." He thought in malicious joy.

Their father Orion looked pissed off as well, whispered something in their mother's ear and grasped her wand hand even tighter. Walburga Black looked sour-faced, humiliated and reluctant as she exclaimed in a fake sweet voice, "Mr. and Mrs. Prince, Mr. and Mrs. MacMillan, I apologize for sullying Serena's reputation out of spite. It won't happen again and I trust that you parented Serena into an intelligent, modest and lovely young woman. I hope that my little outburst won't handicap our wedding preparations. We should forget everything and let bygones be bygones." She paused and locked her icy-blue eyes with Serena's onyx ones.

She went on in a fake regretful tone. "Serena, please forgive my mishap. I know deep in my heart that you are a lovely, levelheaded and well-educated young woman that would never betray our Pure-blooded customs. I can't wait to get to know you better and welcome you into our family as my daughter-in-law. I know that we will get along splendidly." She plastered a fake friendly smile on her face and turned her attention back to her hosts. "I think that Orion and I should leave you now, for we have plenty to do before our Christmas Eve Ball. Thank you for your hospitality. I look forward to seeing you again on my Christmas Eve Ball at 12 Grimmauld Place."

Augustus Prince cleared his throat, pierced the Blacks with a scathing look and addressed them in his deep baritone. "It was so entertaining to see you again, Orion and Walburga. Such a tragedy that Arcturus couldn't be here today, for he would love to see our families bound due to marriage. We will certainly overlook your inappropriate insinuations as imprudent comments of a worried mother. But don't insult my family again. We will see you on Christmas Eve at 12 Grimmauld Place. Regulus will stay with us until then, and Sirius will floo back to you later this evening. Have a nice day." He urged them with a silent head nod to leave the dining room, ignoring the pompous goodbyes of Orion and grilling Walburga with a disgusted look.

Seeing their reversed backs, everyone let out a sigh of relief and relaxed their features. Eileen and Sebastian looked as if they wanted to run after them and hex them into next year, but they halted their motions due to a warning glare of Augustus Prince. "Eileen, my dear. Believe me that I needed to apply all my Occlumency shields to not lash out at them. But it wouldn't be prudent to turn them into our enemies, for Serena will be engaged to Sirius in two days. And I can't stand to fear every day for the safety of my granddaughter if Walburga Black decides to hunt her. Let her talk, swallow it down and be reassured that your daughter is a wonderful intelligent young woman." He stated in a calm voice. "You are right dad, she isn't worthy of my scorn. But I won't let her insult me and my daughter another time," Eileen expressed with a malicious glint in her eyes. The calm presence of her husband who was caressing her back lovingly managed to keep her calm.

Sirius broke the tense atmosphere with an apologetic look. "Mr. and Mrs. Prince, Mr. and Mrs. MacMillan, I apologize for the scene my dear mother caused today. She can be fairly bad-tempered and fast to condemn others. Stay assured that I won't allow her to belittle Serena. I'm so glad that you allow Regulus and me to spend some days in peace and sanity outside of 12 Grimmauld Place." He said with sparkling grey eyes. Eileen Prince MacMillan answered him with a half-smile, "Sirius, you and Regulus don't have to apologize for the actions of your parents. You can't change how they are and nobody condemns you for them. I'm glad that Regulus will spend a nice Christmas with us and you some relaxing days during your winter holidays. If Serena and Regulus are game with it, you can even spend Christmas with us, for I wouldn't want you to spend it in gloomy despair at Grimmauld Place. Your defense of Serena showed me that you are a worthy fiancé and best friend of her." She stated in a kind tone, gifting the Black brothers with good-natured smiles.

Regulus looked heart-broken. "Merlin, I guess I will have to share Serena with my brother even on Christmas. My life really sucks right now," Regulus thought in a gloomy mood. But Sirius surprised him by answering, "Thank you for your compliment, Mrs. MacMillan. But I don't want to overstay my welcome at your home. I want to give Serena some time alone with her best friend to talk openly, share her hopes and fears and come to terms with our engagement. Besides that, I won't have to stay at Grimmauld Place alone with my parents for Christmas because the Potters have already invited me. I will floo to them this evening." He looked at Eileen with an honest smile. "But now, let's not waste our time on my crazy mum. Serena, you wanted to show me your Muggle records' collection?," He asked in an excited voice. Serena rolled her eyes at his excitement. He looked like a kid in a candy store. She smiled at him and Regulus and uttered in a cheerful voice, "It seems like you can't wait to listen to the Beatles. Then come along and follow me into my rooms." She signaled him with a hand movement to follow her, exchanged a "see you later" with her family members and walked side by side with Regulus out of the dining room.


	15. Chapter 14 – Childish acts escalate!

Corridors, Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Sirius lingered slowly behind Serena and Regulus who were whispering to each other in hushed voices, discussing how they should inform their friends about Serena's fate and what they should do until her engagement party. The Black heir rolled his eyes and sighed. "The closeness between these two is unbelievable. No wonder Reggie thought that he could win her over. He is basically her best friend, strongest rock and personal suggestion box. He makes her smile, debates with her about magical theories with ease and shares her interests in protecting house-elves and improving the corporate feeling in Hogwarts. Listening to their hushed voices, noticing their familiar touches and seeing their easy smiles, I feel like a fifth wheel. Damn, they would be a cute well-matched couple. Reggie is totally in love with her and I will destroy their happiness. Sometimes, I really hate being the eldest Black heir if it means destroying my brother's chances of finding love and happiness.

"Well, I could provoke my parents and be disowned, making Reggie the oldest Black heir. But I doubt that I would manage that in two days and my she-devil of a mum would never disown me if it means lessening my unhappiness. Besides that, I doubt that Serena would be too thrilled by me leaving her alone on our engagement party, causing a scene and humiliating her in front of the Wizarding upper-class. We will have to marry and I only pray that we can make it work somehow and that Reggie finds love with another girl." Sirius thought grumbling darkly. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed that they had stopped in front of a dark oak door. Serena and Regulus were piercing him with curious looks. "Nice, they probably think that I'm a loony dreamer or plan something nefarious. Distract their suspicions with a joke," a panicked voice urged him.

"Why are you looking at me as if I'm some murdering psychopath? My mind was only occupied with comparing the light cream-colored hallways of Prince Manor with the dark ones at Grimmauld Place. I have to make your folks a compliment, Serena. They know how to make something look royal as well comfortable like true kings and queens." He joked, flashing her a beaming smile. "I can't wait to see your room, Princess." Serena shook her head and Regulus groaned annoyed. "Well, perhaps my joke was a little lame. But come on. What can you expect from someone who tries to crack a joke to distract his company? I should really up my game." Sirius thought inside of his mind. Serena nudged him playfully in the side. "You should stop calling me a princess, Sirius. I'm far away from being a girly pink-loving young woman who gushes about your charms. This joke was lame. I hope that you can do better." She twinkled at him with her obsidian eyes, laughing good-naturedly.

Before he could reply anything, Regulus exclaimed in a pissed-off voice. "Sadly, he is always such a boring entertainer, Serena. He imagines himself to be a supreme prankster and funny guy, but in reality, he only is a cruel bully with lame jokes. I hope that he doesn't bore us to death until he apparates to his evil twin Potter." Sirius glared at his brother. "Reggie, these are lies. You know that I can be right funny. Do I have to remind you that you always laughed yourself to sleep while I animated your bedtime stories? Don't be such a meanie. I know that you can't stand my face right now and that you hate James, but please don't talk about him as if he is the devil. You don't know him." He argued in a raised voice.

Regulus only returned his dark look, shrugged his shoulders and intoned in a heated voice, "All I know about your dear friend Potter is that he is a cruel bully who hates everyone out of Slytherin and managed to instigate you against me. He bullies Serena, your fiancée, without mercy and tries to sabotage her friendship with Lily. Thank you, but I don't want to get to know such a git. And if you value him more than your fiancée your engagement won't sadly work." He screamed at him. Sensing the tension in the air, Serena cleared her throat and tried to calm the Black brothers down. "Sirius, Regulus. Please cease your childish fights. Although I hate James Potter with every fiber of my heart, I have to accept that he is one of Sirius's best friends. I won't prescribe you who you choose as your friends. I only expect that you urge Potter to stop his bullying for it wouldn't do our engagement any good if my fiancé enabled his best friend to bully me. As you have already promised this to me, I don't doubt that you will keep your promise. So, please, stop to rattle him, Reg. Let's listen to the Beatles instead." She expressed in an honest tone.

She awaited the silent nods and sheepish looks on their faces and opened her door with a smile. "Welcome to my world, Sirius," she said in an excited voice and welcomed them inside her rooms. She could see Sirius's stunned face. "Well, he probably imagined my room to be a dark green hole littered in books and potions ingredients. In his mind, any Slytherin has to decorate his/her room in green and silver and hide dark magical objects and books in every corner. Naturally, my room occupies many books for I love to read. But only a few on the Dark Arts and no obviously visible potions ingredients and equipment, for I store them in my lab or my walk-in Potions cabinet. I guess my huge collection of Muggle literature, the make-up, and the Grammophon impress him," she chuckled inside her mind. Sirius approached her dark oak bookshelves in silence and touched the spines of her Muggle books lost in thoughts.

Regulus only raised his eyebrow at his brother's odd behavior. She could practically hear his thoughts. "Merlin, Sirius is such a prejudiced fool. He really thought that a Slytherin would hate anything Muggle and live in a dark room. How can someone be so stupid? Sometimes, I think that he got switched at birth, but his resemblance with dad is uncanny, hence he must be my brother. He will be in for some surprises with Serena." Something like this flashed through her best friends mind right now. Sometimes she found it uncanny how well she could read Regulus. But she guessed that their close friendship and his open face betrayed his feelings and thoughts to her.

Sirius ran his fingers over Serena's book selection. "Damn, her taste in literature is quite awesome. Hemmingway, Shakespeare, Poe, Shelley, Orwell. She seems to like classical literature as well as science fiction. I could certainly exchange some books with her. I never expected her to have such a vast collection of Muggle literature. Naturally, I knew that she loved to read, but I only saw her with her nose buried in a Potions tome or Dark Arts book at Hogwarts. I wonder why she is so fascinated with Muggle literature. Perhaps, she is also fascinated with Muggle culture. That would be so cool," he intoned in a hopeful voice inside his head. "I also didn't expect her room to be painted in light grey and turquoise. Together with her huge windows and balcony it really enlights her rooms and makes them seem larger. And she even hides a make-up table in here. She seems to be an ordinary teenaged girl after all," he mused with a chuckle.

His gaze moved to her records shelf that also contained her Grammophon. He inhaled the mixed scent of belladonnas and vanilla, smiling like a loon. "Merlin, her room smells just like her. It's such an intoxicating scent. I can't fathom why I bullied her at Hogwarts. She is an intelligent, beautiful and fun-loving girl that loves Muggle literature and music. I can totally see myself falling for her," he thought in a flabbergasted voice, moving in the back left corner of her room and taking out the last studio album of the Beatles "Let it be". He balanced it in his hands and turned around to face Serena and Regulus with a beaming smile.

"Your collection is awesome. It's so cool that you have their last album "Let it be", Serena. I can't wait to listen to its vibes with your beautiful vintage Grammophon. Your room looks like a teenage dream come true. I'm so relieved that you haven't plastered everything full with Slytherin merchandise like this crazy fool over there." He uttered in a teasing voice, pointing to his pissed-off looking brother. "I guess that we will have no problems to agree on the designs for our manor because the interior design in your room looks fantastic. But you didn't mention that you have this huge balcony attached to your room, Serena. Do you sit out there, gazing into the beautiful night sky and waiting for your Romeo?" He asked with a playful wink.

Serena groaned in annoyance, accioed one of her fluffy turquoise cushions and threw it at her fiancé. "Hell, why do you have to be so childish, Sirius. I can't believe that I'm going to be married to such a man-child. Naturally, I don't wait for my Romeo on my balcony, for I don't need a besotted love-crazy fool. But I love to observe the stars in the summers and read my books there. Regulus and I have spent many nights there talking about our dreams and fears as well as goofing around. Regulus even taught me how to identify the constellations with an easy spell. It's totally awesome. Perhaps, he will be even kind enough to teach it to you. I hope that my cushion attack is a warning to you, for I will attack you with a Stinging Hex if you don't cease your lame anti-women jokes. And don't touch my Beatles record as if it is a pizza. It is my most favorite album and I will hex you into oblivion if you manage to destroy it."

She pierced him with a dark look but lost her pissed-off stance as she noticed his pained face and groaning lips. She laughed good-heartedly and shook her head, exchanging amused looks with Regulus. "Merlin, he really is something else. His pained reaction to my pillow attack is so dramatic. I bet he is a guy who likes to make a cold seem like the end of the world. I hope that I will survive his ailing tendencies," she thought with an eye roll. "Sirius, don't pretend that I did kill you. Give me this record and I can put it on my Grammophon." She walked to him and reached out her hand for her record. But Sirius only grinned at her and shook his dark curls, making no efforts to hand her record out. "Serena, you wound me. This pillow really hurt me. I'm not a man who cries bloody murder by everything." Regulus sneered at this. His brother ignored this and went on, "You have an incredible punch, no wonder that you are a beater on the Slytherin Quidditch team. But you must fight for this record, love. I won't hand it out to you without a fight," he exclaimed with gleaming grey eyes.

Serena couldn't believe his cocky nature. She had invited him into her room to show him her records collection and let him listen to her Grammophon because she knew how in love Sirius was with the Muggle culture. But her charming fiancé couldn't help himself but needle her, flirt with her and pretend to be funny. "I don't know who he thinks he is. He needs to give this record to me. I won't have it any other way. And he can save his jokes, compliments and flirtation technique for his bimbos in Hogwarts, for I won't fall for him. Sure, he has a charming smile, beautiful eyes and an athletic body, but he can't win me over with some cheesy words and childish actions. He must up his game if he wants to impress me. If he won't give me my record back easily, I will fight for it," she vowed in a determined voice.

She jumped forward, focusing her mind on gripping the record and throwing Sirius down from his high pedestal. But Sirius sidestepped her attack, grinning like mad and hiding the record behind his back. "Come on, Serena. You can do better than this. You're a witch after all," Sirius needled her on. Regulus shouted at his brother, "Sirius, stop this childish display now. Serena wanted to show you her Grammophon, you wanted to listen to it. Why are you playing this nonsense hide-and-seek game now? It doesn't make sense. You only want to take center stage. Cease your irresponsible behavior now." He demanded in a pissed-off voice, his sapphire blue eyes tightened into slits and his posture murderous. But he didn't try to intervene in his brothers' play, for he didn't want to anger Serena. She detested being treated like a maid in distress. And she could handle his brother just fine on her own.

"Sirius, I urge you to give me the record now. I won't hesitate to hex you to get my hands on it," she exclaimed in a cold voice. She moved closer to his body, tried to intimidate him and reached behind his back to get her record. Sirius closed the distance between their bodies, stopped her exploring hands with one of his own and whispered into her ear. "My beautiful fiancée, I'm flattered that you enjoy my closeness so much. If you wanted to touch my body, you should have said something to me. I would gladly share my warmth with you, Serena. You look so awesome in this dress. If my brother wasn't in this room, I would kiss your plumb lips." He husked the last words in her blushing face, inhaling her belladonna and vanilla scent and noticing her escalating heartbeat with a smirk.

He took the record, reached behind his back to disentangle their hands and put the Beatles record in her outstretched hands. Noticing her shocked and angry expression, he raised his hands and put them in front of his body. "I'm sorry if I have offended you. But I couldn't help myself. I will certainly leave your room now if you wish for it. But damn, you look really stunning in this dress," he uttered in an honest sounding voice, bitting his bottom lip in a sign of regret. Serena tightened her grip around her record, brushed his fingers lightly and tried to calm her nerves. She enacted her Occlumency shields, leveled her obsidian eyes to his apologetic grey ones and exclaimed in a steady voice, "Don't think that you can win me over by disrespecting my private space, Sirius. I will tolerate your childish behavior today, but I won't stand for it in the future. Your empty compliments won't win me over. I know that I'm not some stunning beauty, so don't lie to me." She pleaded with him and stopped his reply with a Silencing Charm. "No, Sirius. You won't charm me with your words. You will listen closely. I want our engagement to be based on respect, honesty, and authenticity. I will cease this spell, put on the record and forgive you for your actions if you promise to stop these childish acts." She hissed in a deadly voice.

Although Sirius wanted to tell her that she was indeed beautiful and that he had been a fool to call her an ugly princess in the past, he registered that she wouldn't be open for his apologies and flattering now. He tried to transfer emotions of regret, hope, and admiration into her mind via his grey eyes, nodded once and exhaled deeply. He stepped back from Serena, let her handle her Grammophon and moved in front of her bookshelves, ignoring the murderous glare of Regulus. "Hell, why must I fuck everything up? No wonder she thinks that I'm a lying childish asshole. I need to establish a friendship based on trust, respect, and truthfulness before I can think about wooing her. I need to take a step back and show her that I can be an awesome guy. Hopefully, she will be able to like and trust me until our wedding," he reprimanded himself in his mind and was glad to listen to the awesome tunes of "Let it be".


	16. Chapter 15 – Muggle music can trigger some hurtful memories!

Serena's room, Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena tried to internalize the lyrics of Let it be. She wanted to relax, take some deep breaths and re-energize her body for the taxing days that were to come. She would need all of her concentration, cunning, wit and charm if she wanted to survive her engagement party and Sirius's stay at Prince Manor. But her buzzing mind wouldn't stop pestering her with horror scenarios, mean mockings, and awkward chats. She felt on edge and like an elephant tiptoeing around in a china store in the tense atmosphere of her bedroom. Although she tried to relax on her armchair by counting potion ingredients inside of her head and seeking her best friend's easy smile out for comfort, she couldn't erase the fact that Sirius Black was currently standing in her bedroom, listening to her Beatles' record and tapping his right foot to the beat of the song. It was as if she had been transported into an alternative universe where her Hogwarts bullies were her best friends and chilled with her in her safe haven. But she hadn't been beamed into an alternative reality, because Sirius thankfully wasn't accompanied by his band of misfits and although he tried really hard to play the easy-going, happy teenager she could detect in his wistful grey eyes and his stiff posture that their impending engagement nagged on his mind and that he didn't want to fuck everything up with some silly jokes or inappropriate gestures.

Feeling slightly relieved by the observation that her fiancé wasn't so cool after all and also felt nervous in her company, she decided to break the ice by talking about music. Before she blurted out some random remark about the Beatles, she took some strength out of Regulus's encouraging smile. Her best friend was currently lounged on her comfortable four-poster bed, swaying to the tunes of Let it be and mentally screaming at her to dispel the awkward tension in the room. It seemed like he wanted to teletransport into her brain that she should get it over with and talk to his idiotic brother because he couldn't stand hours of listening to the Beatles in silence. Hence, Serena gathered all her courage, turned her head in Sirius's direction and asked him in a soft voice, "So, is my Muggle Grammophon worth raving over? Or have you listened to better sounding Beatles' tunes in some Muggle club?"

Sirius halted his movements, blinked at her owlishly and replied with his insufferable smirk in place, "If I had such an awesome music player at home, I would certainly rave about it to my mates. I have never heard Let it be sounding so real and powerful. We have to check out many more records during my stay here, for I can't fathom how honest Sway will sound on it. I must say that I would have never perceived you for a Muggle music and literature fan. How come that you know so much about the Muggle culture? Did Lily take you on some Muggle adventures during your hols? I mean I'm aware that you're a Half-blood and must know some things from your biological dad's side, but you are so in tune with your magical identity that it seems surreal that you own your own Muggle records and Grammophon." Sirius rambled on with a mischievous look in his eyes but stopped his curious questions when he noticed her sad face.

"Merlin, what have I done wrong now? Am I a walking fool who can't manage an ordinary friendly talk with my fiancé without messing everything up? I wanted to make her smile and connect due to our love for Muggle culture, but I somehow managed to make her miserable and closed up. Excellent job, Sirius," a nasty voice mumbled inside of his head. He stepped hurriedly beside her, gazing in her muddled onyx eyes with empathy and touching her gently on her shoulder. "Serena, I'm sorry if I offended you in some way. That wasn't my intention. I only thought that our love for Muggle music could be a common interest of us and I'm really interested in how you came to your records collection," he blurted out in an apologetic tone and tried to comfort her with his gentle touch. But his fiancée seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, for she gazed stoically in the empty room and didn't seem to take notice of him. She almost looked as if she was lost in a trance.

Before he could try to rouse her, Regulus stormed in front of her, embraced her in a tight hug and threw him off-balance. While he stumbled on the floor, he could hear Regulus's soothing voice. "Serena, you're okay. He can't hurt you. You're safe at Prince Manor. This bastard will never put his hand on you again," he mumbled in a soft, calm voice. Serena melted visibly into his body, clawing her fingers in his shirt and hiding her face in his chest. Although Sirius felt a rush of relief surging through his veins, because his younger brother had been able to calm his fiancée down, he felt a sharp stab of jealousy piercing through his heart. "Hell, why must Regulus show me with every action that he would be the better husband for Serena? Naturally, he knows her as well as his beloved astrological constellations because he is her best male friend and closest ally. But his love for her is so obvious and they would make such a perfect Slytherin it-couple that it shatters my heart into million pieces. Sure, I'm not in love with Serena, but she will be my future wife. And I'm afraid that I will never know her real self and always be second best to my brother," a distressed-sounding voice mumbled inside of his head. But the Black heir cleared his head, put on a blank face and stood up from the floor. He needed to be there for his fiancée now and see if he could help his brother in some way.

"Reggie, should I call a house-elf to bring Serena some hot chocolate? I don't know what caused her panic attack, but I want to help in making it better," Sirius stated in a calm voice. His younger brother soothed Serena with sweet nothingnesses but turned his sapphire eyes sideways to pierce him with a deathly glare. If looks could kill, he would have been dead right now. He exclaimed in a seething tone, "You have done enough already, brother. How could you be so insensitive to mention her Muggle bastard of a father? You must realize that it is quite distressing for someone to recall his darkest memories. Why couldn't you keep your mouth shut? Or did your love for Muggle music drain your brain so much that you couldn't stop yourself from recklessly bringing up her abusive biological father? Your Gryffindors are really a bunch of dunderheads."

Sirius was shocked, his grey eyes nearly jumped out of his eye sockets. "Serena has been abused by her biological father? Merlin, I didn't know this. I would have never thought that this strong, brilliant young woman went through hell as a kid. How could I be so stupid to bring up her Muggle father? From the gossiping stories of my mum about the filthy blood-traitor Eileen and my dad's bitter remarks about the good for nothing Muggle Snape, I knew that Serena's biological father had been a Muggle loser, but I could have never imagined that he was a cruel bastard that would hurt his child physically and verbally. If I could face him now, I would hex him with the darkest curses I knew and beat him up the Muggle way. How could a man be so cruel and inhuman to hurt his own daughter, someone he should shelter like a china doll and love more than his life since her birth? I vow that I will never lose my temper, lash out at Serena and our future children and hurt them. If I cross this line, I will kill myself. Hell, my cruel bullying with my Gryffindor mates must have evoked her darkest memories, festered on her broken soul and reinforced her feelings of being useless, unlovable and alone. How can I come back from this? Even Mother Teresa couldn't forgive something like this. I have doomed myself and fucked our future up," it dawned on him.

He felt the urge to make everything better. Raking his fingers nervously through his dark brown locks, he looked helplessly at his angry brother and the still heart-broken Serena. "God, Regulus. I didn't know anything about Serena's miserable childhood in the Muggle world. You have to believe me, Serena. If I had known that you went through hell as a kid, I would have never bullied you. I only targeted you with James, because you seemed like the typical cunning Slytherin Pure-blood girl: rich, shallow and quick with dark spells. I guess I should throw my perception skills and knowledge of human nature into a waste bin. I'm so sorry for my past deeds. If I could turn back time, I would travel back into the Hogwarts Express in our first year, smack my younger self in the face and encourage him to befriend you. If I'm totally honest with you, I started to bully you because I have been jealous of you. I have observed at the train station how your mum embraced you with tears in her eyes and your granddad said good-bye to you with a proud smile. In this minute, I would have given anything to be you, for my mum only hexes me with dark curses and my dad scolds me for my reckless Gryffindor ways. Sadly, I know everything about being the unloved, abused and lonely child. If it hadn't been for Regulus, I'm not sure if I would have survived my childhood without being totally broken." His voice broke at his words, his throat felt dry and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

He zoomed his vulnerable-looking grey eyes in on Serena's compassionate obsidian eyes, felt new hope and understanding arise between them and went on in a steady tone, "In some ways, my parents disinterested, negligent and curses-riddled parenting has surely fucked me up. But I'm not a heartless bastard, Serena. Please, you have to believe me that I regret my past actions and discussing your Muggle heritage so carelessly with you. I vow that I will never fester your feelings of being lonely and not good enough again and that I will try to work out our history, redeem myself for my actions and build a healthy friendship with you. Please, give this dunderheaded fool another chance." Sirius pleaded with her, the fear of rejection and empathy visible in his grey eyes as he sacked down into a miserable heap on her bedroom floor.

Serena swallowed down some miserable sobs. She felt secure in Regulus's arms but hearing Sirius's own story of abuse and heartfelt apology, new sobs threated to rock her body. "God, I have suspected that Sirius's mum tortures him with dark spells for his misdeeds and being sorted into Gryffindor and that his dad treats him with indifference, but hearing him talk about his lonely, abusive childhood, being totally honest with his reasons for bullying me and showing me his vulnerable side, makes me feel for the broken boy in him. Hell, I know all too well how envious one lonely, abused child can be of a happy family. When I met the Evanses for the first time, I envied Lily for her parents. They accepted her with her unique magical powers, supported her on her adventure in the Magical world and talked with awe and pride shining in their eyes about her accidental outbursts of magic. If I'm totally honest with myself, I took a dislike to Petunia, because she bullied her sister and didn't appreciate her happy family. In my eyes, she was an ungrateful brat who disturbed her happy family with her rantings and nagging to get some attention. Thence, I know everything about how mean you can be to someone who seems to have it all but throws it all away."

Her mind kept racing to his authentic apology, his vow to work things out between them and plea for another chance. "I can feel that his apology and vow to never hurt me again are honest. I realize that I must forgive him for his past actions in the close future to give our marriage a real chance. Naturally, he must first prove to me that he backs his words with actions, keeps his Marauders on a leash and works on improving the inter-houses community at Hogwarts. It will take some time to see him as my friend, fiancé, and dad of my future children, Sirius Black, but I vow to give him a second chance and establish some trust between us. I can't condemn our future children to an unhappy life. And our honest talks seem to be one step in the right direction of getting to know our real selves. With all our insecurities, pain, imperfections and nightmares as well as happy memories, joy, endearing character traits and dreams," a hopeful Serena whispered inside of her mind.

She took a deep breath, thanked Regulus with a grateful squeeze for his support and entangled herself from his embrace. She stepped up from her comfy armchair, seated herself on her floor and crawled in a determined manner to the broken-down form of Sirius. She touched him slightly on his hunched shoulders, urged him with a gentle tap on his chin to lock his grey eyes with her onyx ones and uttered in an emotional tone. "I will give you another chance, Sirius. Although I'm still hunted by the memories of your bullying and somewhere in my mind the abused, lonely girl feeds on her insecurities, I will try to be your friend, work things out with you and make our marriage work. I'm grateful that you opened up to me about some of your own experiences with abuse and your own insecurities. Believe me, I know how jealous, lonely kids can lash out on perceived ungrateful brats.

"Getting to know the motives behind your bullying doesn't make it okay but it helps me to move on and understand you better. We are two broken kids who need to figure out some way to heal together for the sake of our happiness and our future children. I'm not angry with your questions about my fascination with the Muggle world, because you couldn't know that talking about my Muggle heritage would trigger some bad memories. And you are right. Our love for Muggle music and literature could be a common ground in establishing a friendship between us. I'm glad that you like listening to my Grammophon because it symbols for me the beauty and magic of Muggle music. I can't wait to listen to your Sway record on it, my future friend." Serena ended her speech in soft tones and embraced her fiancé in a friendly hug. They could both need some more comfort, happiness, and joy in their lives, and they wanted desperately to find it with each other.


	17. Chapter 16 – Talking about your haunted past can help you heal, I!

Serena's room, Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Serena stayed for some minutes in Sirius's embrace. It felt good to be comforted by her fiancé, held tightly against his muscular chest and being able to hear his steady heartbeat. So close to him, she could feel the outlines of some old, pitted scars on his back and breathed in his masculine bergamot, ambergris and sandalwood scent. "Sirius's back is scar-ridden. He must have also had a tough, violence and loneliness filled childhood. I would have never guessed that the cocky, self-confident and funny Sirius Black was an abused child. How could he bully other children, if he knew exactly how deep scars physical and emotional abuse left on your body and soul? I don't understand it. Sure, he has explained to me that I became his favorite bullying victim because of my Slytherin membership, supportive, affectionate family and dark aura. But his jealousy of my kind, sweet mum and my supposedly dark aura don't explain how he and his Marauder mates could be so cruel to me for six years. He must have noticed that I reduced my studies in the Dark Arts, had a mixed-houses group of friends, that worked on improving the school spirit at Hogwarts, and tried to avoid any hexes and insults filled confrontations with him and his Marauder mates.

"I mean, he couldn't have been that blinded by his jealousy and hatred for Slytherins, or could he? He must have noticed that I wanted to be his friend at the Hogwarts Express. Or had he been so consumed by his hatred for his abuser that he wrote everyone who wanted to be in Slytherin off as being scum under his shoes? I think that we must have a heart-to-heart about our past before we can move on to be friends. And if opening up to him about my horror-filled childhood and painful suffering under the bullying of him and his Marauder bullies remove some misunderstandings and establish a new bond between us, I will risk opening up this rotten cans of worms," a determined Serena vowed inside of her head.

She took a deep breath, loosened their tight embrace and nudged Sirius slightly in the side to get his attention. Looking with positive twinkling obsidian eyes into his regret-filled grey ones, Serena smiled at him and uttered in a light-sounding voice, "I think we should get up from the floor now, it's getting somewhat uncomfortable. Thank you for this hug. I really needed it. I think that now is as good a time as any to talk about our hurtful past. We will need to face the elephant in the room eventually if we want to make our engagement work, become friends and raise our children in a safe, respectful and love-filled environment. I have learned in my therapy sessions that it is always better to open up about your feelings and haunted past than bottling everything up for years. So, if you are up for it, we could be honest with each other on how our abuse-filled childhoods and bullying-filled teenage years have changed us. I could ask Regulus to leave my room and spend his time sulking above a Muggle Sciences book in my guest room if it would make you more comfortable to talk without him. I realize that we will open some cans of worms and relive some painful memories, but I trust that it will help us to establish a new understanding between us. So, what do you think?"

Sirius's grey-blue eyes widened in shock. It had felt so good to share a tight hug with his fiancée, basking in her physical warmth and breathing in her sweet belladonna and vanilla scent, that he wished they could be locked in their embrace for eternity. Naturally, he knew that this was a silly dream, for he needed to depart to the Potter's Christmas celebrations in a few hours and Serena needed to share a lovely Christmas dinner with her family and Reggie, but it had felt so damn right to have her in his arms. If he was totally honest with himself, he had last shared such a comfort-transferring hug with his little brother when he had been eight. And now Serena wanted to squash the warm, empathetic feelings between them by having a heart to heart talk? "I can only loose here. I'm the bastard who bullied her with my mates for six years mercilessly – calling her an ugly Slytherin bookworm, hexing her with humiliating Boiling Hexes and Deformation Charms and taunting her as a worthless, evil dark witch. But my absolute worst crime was that I kept bulling her although I could sense deep down inside my bones that she had an unhappy childhood and knew everything about being the lonely, unloved and suffering child.

"Merlin, who could redeem himself from this? I wish that I could travel back in time, beat my eleven-year-old self in a pulp and erase his prejudices against Slytherins from his mind. How could I have become such a monster? Some sick voice inside of my head egged me on to humiliate Serena some more, cut her to the quick with my hexes and leave her into tears. Which sadistic, pathetic monster relishes in the tears, hurt and despair of his victims? Perhaps, my she-devil of a mum's dark curses, my dad's disinterest, and the famous Black madness have shaped me into a soulless, cruel bastard who can not redeem himself. But if Serena believes that I can change my ways, be a better man and atone for my sins, I will try anything to prove her right. I must man up to be worthy of being her fiancé, future husband, and dad of our future children. If opening up to her about my she-devil of a mum's abuse, absent dad's neglect, and my bullying ways is the first step to a friendly bond between us, I will certainly open these cans of worms," a remorseful Sirius thought.

Sirius cleared his throat, zoomed his grey eyes in on Serena's hopeful face and uttered in a raspy voice, "I agree with you that hunching around on your floor gets uncomfortable and that we should clear the air by discussing our past. We need to get to know each other and try to see things from the perspective of another. I know that my bullying ways are inexcusable, but I hope that talking about the actions and motives that let me become a bully and hearing your feelings, will help me to understand the workings of my troubled mind and apologize more sincerely to you. I promise you that I will never be your tormentor again. But to keep the promise of never hurting you on purpose again, I will have to know what triggers your bad feelings and memories. And you will have to know what triggers mine. In contrast to you, I have never talked to a Mind Healer or Muggle psychologist before, thus I will relive my worst memories intentionally for the first time. Naturally, I have talked to James and Remus about some things that went on at 12 Grimmauld Place, but they only know half of it. And even Reggie isn't aware of the tip of the iceberg, for I have always managed to protect him as well as I could from our she-devil of a mum's attacks. Hence, I think that it would be best if Regulus wouldn't join in on our conversation."

He paused, looked apologetically at the sneering face of Regulus and mumbled, "I'm aware that you want to know exactly how our wicked witch of a mum fucked me up, Reggie. But I believe that it would be better if I talked to Serena alone first. I promise to work through my issues and discuss them with you in detail in the near future. But I would feel uncomfortable if you saw me at my most vulnerable point now – as a heartbroken, desperate and sobbing mess laying on the ground. It is hard enough to show my insecurities, self-doubts and self-loathing to my future wife, but to strip down the image of the strong, self-confident and cocky Sirius Black in front of my little brother at the same time is too much for me." Sirius could see that Regulus wanted to argue with him, but he uttered in a pleading voice, "Please, Reggie. Let me go on my way of soul-searching, memory-reliving, and redemption-seeking alone first. I promise to not harm Serena in any way or form. She is my future wife. I vow that I will not stress her out too much. If I see that our heart to heart triggers to many painful, raw memories, I will stop it immediately and call you with my Patronus messenger. Please trust me and give me this chance, my brother."

Regulus could see the desperation in his brother's eye, nodded ones and left the room silently after he had kissed Serena tenderly on her forehead. He wanted to transfer some comfort and love to her because he knew that she would relive her hellish childhood and her cruel bullying by the Marauders. He trusted that she would be strong enough to talk about her past, for she had learned in her therapy sessions how to cope with her past, express her feelings and discuss her story of abuse with others. Naturally, she could sometimes still be overwhelmed by her feelings of anxiety, hurt and despair, but she had learned techniques to handle them. Sirius, on the other hand, had never really opened up to anyone about his experiences with abuse, neglect and mental issues. Thus, he hoped that Serena could give him some helpful advice on how to deal with his psychological trauma in a healthy way. He shouldn't bully other people to make himself feel better or get revenge for his abuse. It was damn wrong. And Regulus hoped that Sirius would come to the same conclusion, apologize honestly for his bullying and redeem himself by being a better, happier and saner version of himself.

After Regulus had left the room, Sirius held out his hand and helped Serena to get up from the floor. She gifted him with a grateful smile and encouraged him in a soft voice, "Thank you so much for agreeing to this heart to heart talk. I realized that it must be extremely difficult for you to open up to me if you haven't talked to some professionals or close friends before this. It is kind of ironic that you will reveal your darkest memories and most shameful actions to your favorite past bullying survivor whose also your fiancée. We can stop our talk at any time, a simple "I can't handle it anymore" will be enough. I will listen to your story without judgment, try to put myself in your shoes and help you with some advice. If you are interested, I will write down the contact information of my psychologist for you. She is a kind Half-blood in her forties who is a great listener, awesome analyst, and sound adviser. I'm sure that she could help you to deal with your past trauma in a healthier way. She helped me a lot. If you are more comfortable with it, I can start with my story. I expect that you will listen closely without any hasty interruptions. If I want to hear your opinion, I will ask you about it. So, do we have a deal?" Serena asked with warm-looking obsidian eyes, duplicated her comfy armchair with a Gemini Spell and levitated it opposite her own and implied her stunned fiancé to take a seat.

Sirius smiled at his fiancée, shook her hand to seal their deal and voiced in his smooth baritone, "I'm grateful for your help, Serena, and I appreciate that you will tell me your story first. I will listen without judgment or interruptions to your story, although I can't promise that you won't see any reactions on my face. I'm not so successful in keeping my facial expressions at bay, I'm afraid. I will do my best and thank you for your trust in me. It means a lot to me that you trust me with your most painful memories." He lounged himself on his armchair, took in a comfy position and signaled her with an encouraging smile that he was ready to hear her story.

Serena took a deep breath, locked their eyes and stated in a calm, soft voice, "I will start my story from the beginning. As you already know my mum married my biological dad, Tobias Snape, to escape her arranged marriage with your dad and start fresh in the Muggle world. She fell in love with the charming Muggle engineer, Tobias Snape, married him after a whirlwind romance and gave birth to me a couple of years later. My mum describes Tobias as a happy, ambitious man who loved his new wife and newborn daughter dearly and was interested in football, Muggle Sciences, and cars. He furnished my nursery with toys, books, and learning games, painted everything in child-friendly colors and assembled my cradle after his own designs. He sang me to sleep with lullabies when I cried, bottle-feed me when my mum needed her sleep or cheered me up with silly games when I was moody. Sadly, I have no memories of this hands-on, affectionate dad. As soon as my accidental magic manifested itself when I was a couple of months old, he began to resent and fear me. My mum hadn't been honest with him about her magical abilities, thus my magical powers shocked him and turned his world upside down. He felt betrayed by his wife and couldn't declare the existence of magic compatible with his Christian beliefs and scientific, logic-based mindset.

"The Church preached that everyone who called himself a witch or a wizard was an evil servant of Satan. Thus, Tobias feared for his life, developed a hatred and resentment for his wife and daughter and tried to expel the devil from us with some rituals. When he noticed that my outbursts of accidental magic wouldn't cease, he broke the wand of my mum, accused her of indoctrinating my mind with the devil's work, locked her magical items away into the basement and punished her with love deprivation. He began to drink hard liquor, smoke heavily and neglect his work. He insulted my mum, left her alone to care for me and flirted with other women. My mum was left deeply humiliated, heartbroken and without any means to contact her family. When my accidental magic got more powerful as a toddler, Tobias's life was on a dark downward spiral. He was addicted to alcohol, wasted our money on whores and sports bets and got fired from his high-paying job as an engineer. He physically and emotionally abused my mum, calling her a "lying, devil-worshipping whore", who ruined his life, breaking her rips and nose in rage-filled beatings, and locking her away in the basement to hide his domestic violence."

Serena stopped, let out some heartwrenching sobs and went on in a broken, tear-stricken voice, "My first memories of my dad are of him laying passed-out on the couch, hitting my beloved mum in the face and calling me the devil's spawn. … He loathed his new low-paid, physical hard job as a coal miner in our local coal-fired power station in Cokeworth, taunted me for my ugly, evil onyx eyes and spanked me whenever he witnessed one outburst of my accidental magic or saw my face buried in a potions book. … When I wouldn't stop to nag my mum about Hogwarts stories and fantastical magical adventures, he started to burn out his cigarettes on my arms or hit me in my rips. … The pain was all-consuming. I couldn't breathe and thought that I would die any minute. … But the emotional pain was even worse. … I started to ask myself: What is wrong with me that my dad hates me so much and relishes in my pain? … My answer: I'm an unlovable, ugly and worthless freak who deserves to live a life in pain." Here Serena paused and broke down in tears.


	18. Chapter 17 – Talking about your hunted past can help you heal, II!

Serena's room, Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

Sirius jumped up from his armchair, leaned over his crying fiancée and embraced her tightly. He was awkwardly hunched over the armrest of her armchair, caressed her back soothingly and expressed in a soft, compassionate voice, "You aren't an unlovable, ugly and worthless freak, Serena. Your biological dad is a jerk and cruel man for abusing you physically and emotionally. As I listened to your story my blood started to boil in my veins and my brain was consumed by a blinding rage and need for revenge. A voice inside my head screamed to track down this abusive ass with a Locating Spell, rip the black lump he calls a heart from his chest and shred it into thousand pieces. No child deserves to be beating and verbally as well as emotionally abused by anyone. I'm familiar with the heart-wrenching, self-destructive questions that muddle one's brain: Why does my parent love to hurt me? Why doesn't he/she love to hug me and kiss me on the head? What is wrong with me that I don't have loving parents? These questions feed a toxic vicious circle that hunts you day in and day out and lets you resort to self-loathing, self-harm and self-hate.

"It hurts like hell to be at the mercy of one physical superior parent who should love you unconditionally, nurture you with patience, compassion and warmth and protect you against all evil in the world but loves to see you wither in pain, to discipline you with beatings, insults, and emotional torture and to transform into the evilest monster instead. It shatters your heart and turns your life into a nightmare. But you must mumble to you, every night when you lay crying in your bed, like a mantra – 'Nothing is wrong with me. I don't deserve the pain and anguish. I'm not guilty. I'm strong, I will survive this.' In my darkest hours, I'm not able to stick to my mantra and loathe my life. But my friends and Reggie always manage to pull me out of this deep rabbit hole with hilarious jokes, compassionate hugs and encouraging words. I realize know that you will be my rock whenever I'm feeling down and I also want to be there for you in your darkest hours. Hell, I know that you have the Hogwarts Fab Four and your family to comfort you, but I'm your mentally messed up, parental violence surviving fiancé who can understand your pain like no other and shares your bad memories. You are special to me, Serena. And I sense that we can help each other heal.

"So, please, never call yourself an unlovable, ugly and worthless freak again in my presence. You can talk openly about your feelings, but I won't stand idly by your side listening to your self-flagellation without putting up a fight. You are one of the most likable girls I have ever had the fortune to meet. You are easy to be around, have a heart of gold and show an excellent taste in literature and music. Your friends and family love you. And I trust that you will worm your way faster into my heart than I can say "Voldemort." You enchant many boys with your mysterious onyx eyes, glossy ebony hair and beautiful smile. Hell, you look stunning in this dress and I can't wait to see you in your wedding dress. And you are worth every galleon in Gringotts because you want to help others with your potions, fight to reduce the bullying and prejudice in Hogwarts and would kill for your loved ones. Your extraordinary high intelligence and badass magical powers blow my mind and show your true self. I feel for your pain, but I know that every scar on your body is only a sign of your will to survive. You are a strong, unique young woman, Serena." Sirius locked his grey eyes with her onyx ones and send a wave of compassion, admiration, and authenticity to her.

Serena had calmed down in his embrace, looked at him owlishly and felt a new warmth burst through her body. When Sirius touched her face to wipe away her tears gently with his finger pads and caressed her heated cheek lovingly, she sighed heavenly and smiled at him in gratitude. "Merlin, it feels surreal to be consoled by my Hogwarts bully with soft touches, encouraging words and flattering compliments. But I see in Sirius's honest grey eyes that he shares my pain, feels livid about my dark fate and wants to make me smile again. His promise to always be there for me and heal my stars comes from the bottom of his heart. Although it will be a rocky ride to trust him fully and forgive him entirely for his bullying actions, I'm optimistic that we will get there with time," a positive-sounding voice expressed in Serena's head. She mumbled in an emotional tone, "Thank you for your tight hug and pep talk. I really needed it to pull me out of my dark hole. I'm overjoyed to hear that you will always be there for me and that I'm special to you. In a way you are right. We are both strong survivors of unbearable pain that will mark our souls and bodies forever. And it helps to mend the scars to talk openly about our own personal hell. Our rocky history will certainly complicate establishing a close friendship between us, but your words and actions show me that you truly want to change. And I'm more optimistic about our marriage now and can promise you that I will always have an open ear and shoulder to cry on for you and try to see things from your perspective.

"Merlin, I wish that we had been able to dispel the house prejudice, hurt feelings and miscommunication between us at the Hogwarts Express in our first year. Perhaps, we would be thick as thieves now and love chilling around on some cozy couch discussing the Beatles, reading Poe or exchanging silly joke stories. It would have certainly saved me some broken bones, bruised skin, emotional anxiety, and painful humiliation. Meeting Lily Evans on an idyllic playground in Cokeworth, seeing her perform accidental magic and blurting out to her that she is a witch was the jackpot of my childhood. For the first time, I felt that I belonged somewhere, could talk freely about my powers and the Magical world and be accepted with all my quirks and flaws. Hell, I entertained Lily with fantastic tales about magical beings, Hogwarts and Wizarding culture laying on the green willow of our playground and gazing up in the sky. I taught her every simple spell or potion's recipe my beloved mum had managed to teach me when Tobias was working in the coal mine and read to her from an old, worn-out copy of Hogwarts: A History that I hide under some loose planks in my room. I dreamed of my fabulous life at Hogwarts where I would train my magic, invent new potions and meet new like-minded friends. I would escape the darkness of Spinner's End and my cruel father who wanted to beat my magic out of me. He went berserk when my Hogwarts letter arrived, threatened to shoot any owl that knocked against our window and forbade me to train my devilish powers in this school for freakish misfits.

"Merlin, the tyrant burned my letter, urged my mum with cold disinterest, bloody beatings, and sharp lashing-outs to send me to a Catholic girls school where they would cure me of my delusions and shouted that he wouldn't pay a penny for some devil's work teaching school books, voodoo science kit or evil, useless stick. In the next months, he kicked my torso until my rips cracked, hit me hard on the head whenever I dared to utter the word 'Hogwarts' and called me a disgusting, crazy know-it-all. My mum finally realized that he wasn't the same man she had fallen in love with, unlocked our few magical possessions with her inherited wandless magic and packed two trunks with our things. She left Tobias a letter, woke me up one morning before sunrise and apparated us to Prince Manor. She confessed her broken, abusive marriage to her parents, apologized for running away in the Muggle world without keeping contact with them and begged them to give her and her only daughter shelter. My grandparents were overjoyed to see us, shed some tears for our tough fate and apologized for the forced marriage contract. They promised to be there for us, ordered the house-elves to furnish a wing for us and called their personal healer to check on our physical health. The healer mended some cracked bones, applied some Bruising Balm and prescribed us Nutrition Potions.

"She recommended us to see a world-renown family therapist and psychologist to deal with our emotional trauma and family issues. With the help of the therapy sessions, I started to realize that my biological dad abused my trust, love, and sense of safety with his bullying and beatings because he couldn't handle to be the only one in a magical family without magical abilities and wanted to feel in control by belittling and beating us. Nothing was wrong with me, I was not guilty of provoking him or angering him. He had been the one with problems and wreaked his frustrations, fears, and feelings of powerlessness on his wife and daughter. His alcohol addiction only fueled his anger. My grandfather visited him at Spinner's End, beat him bloody for his cruel, evil abuse and obliviated him. To know that my biological dad couldn't harm me anymore, had no memories of his family and could never again lash out against my mum, was a relief, although I felt slightly cheated. Why can he move on with his life without being hunted by self-loathing, bad memories and remorse when I wake up at least once a week feeling his fists crack my rips or his icy voice hissing insults in my ear? I wanted that he had to remember every crime and vice he committed against his family and be plagued by nightmares. My therapist assured me that my feelings of revenge were ordinary, but I had to let them go to live a happier life. Besides that, my grandfather had only erased his memories, but he couldn't erase Tobias's feelings. Thus, he would still be hunted by his anger, hopelessness, and cruelty and most likely die from alcohol intoxication. He wouldn't escape his crimes scot-free and live a miserable life.

"I managed to stay in contact with Lily via owl, informed her about my new living situation and even invited her to Prince Manor. We went shopping for our school supplies in Diagon Alley together and explored every shop and item of Diagon Alley with sparkling eyes like a kid in a candy store. We purchased our wands together in Olivander's and when I held my wand - a fairly flexible 10 ¾" Ebony wand with a Phoenix feather core that was decorated with belladonnas on the handle – in my right hand, it bonded instantly with me and raised new hopes of magical adventures and medical break-through achievements in me. I was now aware that I was an heiress to the world-renown Prince Potions dynasty and had the chance, money, and resources to change the life of many wizards and witches for the better. I boarded the Hogwarts train with the wish to find a new home, learn everything about magic and meet new friends. When you and Potter burst into the compartment where Lily and I were engaged in a lively chat about the outlines of the castle, I wanted to befriend you. I recognized in your hunted grey eyes and praty jokes that you wanted to distract everyone from your loneliness and pain. I saw the lonely, hurt child in you and thought that we could be two kindred spirits. But you pierced me with disgust, animosity and hatred flashing in your eyes when I uttered that I wanted to be sorted into Slytherin like my mum and regarded Gryffindors as brawny ruffians." Serena laughed bitterly at the memory of their first meeting on the train, how she had messed everything up by categorizing Gryffindors as sport-crazy airheads and Sirius's had gutted her with insulting her intelligence.

She looked him in his grey-blue eyes and joked, "Well, I guess it was hatred at first sight on your part and from there onwards the animosity between our houses, your loathing for everything Slytherin, your annoyance with my preying, know-it-all nature and my annoyance with your cocksure, arrogant attitude as well as loathing for your pranking, rules-breaking and boastful Marauder friends had to end in disaster. It hurt like hell and opened up old wounds whenever you hexed me in the corridors, dueled me four on one or called me 'an ugly, potions-crazed Princess'. I feel uncomfortable as hell to discuss my feelings as a bullying survivor with you, but I realize that you need to hear them if we want to move on from our rocky past and try to be friends.

"Although I put on a brave face, tried to not break down in front of you and grant you the satisfaction of seeing me reduced into a crying mess, I cried under my self-invented Muffliato spell in the four-poster-bed of my Slytherin dorm, started to mock my mirror image and cut myself with my self-invented Cutting Spell. I'm not ashamed to admit that I resorted to self-harm to feel something and regain some control over my life. I deluded myself into thinking that I could wield some power if I hurt myself. If my self-inflicted cuts marked my skins, your insults and hexes couldn't touch me. I was only able to climb out of this rabbit hole due to the support of my friends and family, my therapy sessions and some curse in self-defense. I started to stand up to you, like myself and help others that were also bullied. But the scars on my soul and skin remain forever. And I'm angry at you and your Marauders for turning my Hogwarts dream into a nightmare in some parts and making me feel weak. Why did you bully me like this? Did it give you pleasure to see me in pain? I don't believe this for one second because I know the lonely, abused and misunderstood boy in you could never wish this pain on another."

Sirius was taken aback by the hurt, anger and urge to understand he saw in her obsidian eyes. "Merlin, she wanted to be your friend, live out her magical fairytale at Hogwarts and excel in her studies to help others. And you jerk and your toerag friends turned her life into hell out of jealousy, mistrust and house prejudice? I'm a monster, for I accurately know how much your soul and body suffer under the abuse of others and how much an unhappy child dreams of the safety and wonders of Hogwarts. How could I do this to her? I must have a split personality, for I can't explain the cruel bully that loves to attack an innocent girl with cruel hexes and mean insults living in the body of the neglected, abused and angry teen. And despite my despicable behavior, Serena still takes the effort to understand my reasons for turning into a bully, find out the nightmares that hunt me and listen patiently to me? She really is a godsend and I don't deserve her," Sirius thought in his crestfallen state of mind.

He decided to use his Gryffindor bravery for once to be open about his inner demons and beg her for forgiveness. He locked his grey irises with her obsidian ones, put his right hand gently on her right underarm and expressed in an emotional tone, "I'm deeply sorry for all the pain and nightmares I caused you, Serena. I was a first-class arsehole to you and hope that you can forgive me with time. It wasn't my intention to drive you into self-harm and relish in your pain. Merlin, I will admit that a twisted part inside of my brain felt powerful and good whenever I could surprise you with a hidden attack or bring you down with some mean words. I noticed that you would crumble when I criticized your looks and thirst to learn, thus I went in for the kill and insulted you with lies. You are far away from ugly and you aren't an uncreative know-it-all who memorizes her school books. You actually are very beautiful with your mysterious onyx eyes, plump rosé lips and angular facial features and I'm honored to call such a smart, kind soul my fiancée. The tiny part in my brain that was addicted to hearing the laughs and jeers of the crowds, bonding with my friends over our bullying and destroying everything Slytherin kept me on my cruel bullying path whenever my bad conscience drove me to question my behavior. A loud voice inside my head screamed that I stooped as low as my parents and was an abusive monster for bullying you.

"Hell, I even wrote many letters where I apologized for being the bullying jerk to you, but my misguided Gryffindor pride, fear of being ridiculed and Slytherin prejudice prevented me from sending them to you. Sometimes, I would lay in my four-poster bed, regret my actions and shed some tears for your pain. If I was religious I would have probably prayed to God to help you through your dark moments and give me the strength to be a better man. But I have been too weak. Deep down in my bones, I hated myself for being this fake cocksure, arrogant and cruel bully. I cursed my mirror image and punished myself with a dark Burning Curse. When my flesh started to burn on my abdomen for some seconds, I relished in the pain and felt alive. Hence, I know something about the intoxicating allure of self-harm. I ransacked my brain time and time again for the reasons of my bullying. On some days, I admitted that envy and power were aspects of it. As I already confessed to you, you exuded the aura of a loved, rich Slytherin girl: affectionate, liberal parents, expensive, fashionable designer clothes, an unhealthy interest in the Dark Arts and a cocksure, cunning attitude. I saw how your mum said good-bye to you with tears in her eyes, a warm smile and a gentle kiss on your head. I would have given everything for one awkward hug of my mum, but she only tormented me with teachings in the Pure-blood agenda, experiments in the Dark Arts and disappointed rantings.

"When she noticed that I loved to read Muggle comics, she raided my room and burned every single one of them. When I didn't pay attention to her lectures in Pure-blood culture, she would hex me with a painful Stinging Hex. When I dared to laugh while watching a comedy show on a TV in a shop window in Diagon Alley, she would cast a Tempest Jinx on me. She used to call me 'a worthless, Muggle-loving blood-traitor' who isn't worthy of the Black name and set my Gryffindor merchandise on fire whenever she saw it. After I have been sorted into Gryffindor, she sent me a humiliating Howler in which she expressed that she wished she had never given birth to me and that I was a disgrace for any Pure-blood. She has given up on me since my sorting into Gryffindor, pierces me with cold indifference and disgust and punishes me with a dark curse from time to time. The happy, funny Gryffindor heartthrob Sirius Black is only a mask. Deep down in my heart, I'm the unwanted, abused son who longs to be loved and hates himself for his bullying alter ego. I'm deeply sorry for bullying you because I wanted to be one of the cool kids, feel powerful and put a loved, rich Slytherin girl in her place. I would do anything to turn back time and transfer some sense into my thick skull. I realize that my actions are inexcusable and damn wrong. I hope that you can forgive me one day and help me be a better man because I sense for the first time in my life that I can change myself with your help and become a better person." Sirius ended his apology with a hopeful look and longed for the first time to show someone his real self and explore the goodness in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thank you all for your amazing responses to this story. :) Sadly, this will be the last update before I will be able to update again in early April. Study papers are getting to me and I have no time to write new chapters, ugh.
> 
> Hear you again in April,
> 
> xoxo charmed92


	19. Chapter 18 – Talking about your hunted past can help you heal, III!

Serena's room, Prince Manor, Countryside near Manchester, December 1976

"Damn, Serena. What is wrong with you? A look from his puppy eyes and a sad story about his miserable childhood and you long to throw your arms around him and comfort him like a teddy bear? Hello, this devastated boy in front of you is Sirius Black, your Hogwarts' bully and protagonist of your nightmares. You can't look past his cruel behavior and cutting jokes only because it turns out that the cool, charming and self-confident Padfoot is only a mask. He doesn't deserve it," an angry voice whispered in her right ear. "No, Serena. Don't listen to this vindictive devil. Sirius has ripped the band-aid away from his scars, shown you his real self and vulnerable side. His past bullying actions don't count now. If you mess this up, you will never have a chance at a happy marriage. For Merlin's sake! Sirius is looking like a hurt little boy who longs to be accepted and understood by someone. If you throw him under the bus now, you can kiss your dreams of a peaceful future goodbye. If you squash the glimmer of hope in his eyes, you will never be able to forgive yourself. Go on, comfort your fiancé," an optimistic voice murmured in her left ear.

Serena shook her head mentally. Salazar, had she lost her last marbles already and was arguing with herself in her mind like some old nutter? She screamed at her mind to "shut up" and tentatively reached out for Sirius' hand. She locked her obsidian eyes with his grey ones, rubbed the back of his hand comfortingly and uttered in a gentle voice, "I'm sorry for all the pain you have to endure at your mother's hand. She is a monster for abusing your trust and her role as your caretaker like this. She doesn't deserve to be called a "mum". Merlin, I would love to hex her with a nifty dark curse myself for how much she fucked you up. Believe me, I know what a vicious cycle being unloved by one parent and feeling alone and helpless is. If I'm being totally honest with you, I also sometimes long to be the popular girl and let out my pain on someone else. But I can't pretend that I can understand your reasoning for channeling your hurt, despair, and anger on me completely. I vowed to never make someone feel like I felt at my worst. But I will try to understand your situation and be there for you. All people deal differently with traumatic experiences after all. And unlike you, I have already escaped my personal hell at home years ago. So, don't fret. I won't utter a single syllable about the real vulnerable Sirius Black to your groupies," Serena uttered with a sly smirk and squeezed his rough hand slightly.

Sirius' eyes shown like the stars and he mumbled in an emotional tone, "Thank you for believing in me and giving me this second chance, Serena. Besides Regulus, you are the first person to see me at my darkest hour and not turn away from me in disgust. Merlin, I admire you for your big heart and endless ability to forgive. Don't get me wrong, I know that not everything is going to be sunshine and roses after this heart-to-heart-talk between us. I'm aware that I cut you deeply and have a long, rocky way ahead of me to make it up to you, healing myself and develop better methods to cope with my personal trauma. Believe me, I won't take anything between us lightly and will try to always be understandable of your perspective and way of doing things. I can't put into words what it means to me to know that I will be able to build up a friendship between us and talk to someone who listens to my stories without judgment. At the risk of sounding like a complete sap, I promise to always be real with you. And I'm grateful that you won't let it slip to my fanbase that I'm deep-down a lonely, hurt and self-doubting little boy. It would totally wreck my image, although I'm not so sure that I want to be the cocky, fun-loving Sirius Black anymore because it is really exhausting to keep up a façade for your whole life. Perhaps, I will be a courageous Gryffindor for once and let Hogwarts get a few glimpses at the real Sirius Black." Sirius expressed the last words in a barely audible whisper and averted his eyes from Serena.

Serena sighed. She doubted that Sirius Black could change completely and be brave enough to show his real self at Hogwarts. She suspected that his Marauder friends would be disappointed if their fun-loving, prank-developing and party-enjoying Padfoot turned into a sensible, self-doubting and moody Sirius Black. The Prince heiress believed him that he wanted to change, deal with his personal trauma in therapy and open up to her, but she realized that it would be a rocky way for him back at Hogwarts under the toxic influence of his groupies and cool friends. Every teenager wanted to belong somewhere, be admired by their peers and branded as some "gorgeous, funny and outgoing heartthrob" rather than as some "broody, miserable and reclusive git". Something screamed at her to approach Sirius and comfort him. Besides all the trauma, heartbreak and bad blood in their past, he was her fiancé and she had vowed to support him in his goal of becoming a better, healthier person. Thus, she squeezed his hand tightly and pulled him in a friendly, comforting embrace. She ran her left hand gently up and down his muscular back, tucked a stubborn dark-brown curl behind his ear with her right hand and urged him with a tap on his chin to look into her eyes. As obsidian locked with grey, some deep emotions tugged on her heartstrings. Merlin, why must her stupid heart react to her downcasted fiancé as if she had spotted a hurt, whimpering cute puppy in a forest? It hurt like hell to see him in pain and she vowed to always give him the feeling that she accepted him with his flaws, vulnerabilities, and heartaches.

"Sirius, don't look so defeated and afraid. Never fear that I won't be the first to defend you against any stupid comments at Hogwarts when you act all broody and sad. Hell, I know how mean and heartless our peers can be, but I'm working with my friends on turning Hogwarts into an open-minded, empathetic and tolerant community. We have created concepts to raise awareness of the disastrous psychological effects of bullying and implement strategies against violence and peer pressure at Hogwarts. We never want to hear again kids saying that they hate their time at Hogwarts because they are afraid to be hexed or mocked because of their physical appearance, unique personality or blood status. Everyone should love their time at Hogwarts as a chance to train their magical talents, meet friends for life and dive into the wonders of the Magical world. I'm not some naïve, bubbly girl who believes in pink candy rivers and a community at Hogwarts without conflict, envy, and heartbreaks. But my friends and I firmly believe that we can turn Hogwarts into a more open, real and healthy environment for most students. And I'm sure that our Anti-Bullying Club or our First-Aid Club could use your help. Hell, we would surely be swamped by students if words got around that Sirius Black joined in on our projects. But your friends would surely accuse me of putting you under a Mind-Altering Potion first," Serena let out a silly laugh and shook her head.

God, if Sirius really decided to be a part of their community strengthening clubs, she was sure that Potter would accuse her of dosing him with a Love Potion. The immature, bullying toerag surely wouldn't be able to understand Sirius new outlook on bullying and inter-house relations without suspecting foul play. Lost in her thoughts on Potter's reaction to a new, not-Slytherin hating Sirius, she didn't notice Sirius's cracked smile and his look of pure wonder. Damn, he looked like a love-sick puppy who had laid eyes on his crush for the first time. His grey eyes were misted with happy tears and expressed true adoration, happiness and a feeling of belonging somewhere. He tightened their embrace, breathed in her flowery scent and closed his eyes in bliss. His feelings threatened to overwhelm him and he knew that he must seem like a starved man who had spotted some chocolate to any observer. But for the first time in his life, Sirius didn't care about his self-image and tried to play the charming heartthrob. He knew that Serena wouldn't laugh in his face or ridicule him for his softness. She had uttered to be there for him, help him to be a better man and find peace within himself despite his cruel actions in the past. She was a true angel and he couldn't fathom how big her heart was to let him, her Hogwarts bully, in. But he wouldn't fuck this chance at a healthy relationship and close friendship with his lovely fiancée up with his self-loathing and question her reasoning. The Black heir vowed to enjoy the moment, work hard on being a man Serena could trust and like and show her with his actions that he was deadly serious with seeking help for his psychological trauma, stopping his bullying and showering her with gratitude.

He caressed the smooth skin on her back, basked in the bliss of being so close to her for another minute and loosened their embrace to look her in the eyes. He could get addicted to the sparkling light and deep blue sparkles in her obsidian eyes. He longed to be the reason for her jokes and happy laughs, for her clear, happy laughter sounded like music in his ears. He caressed the soft skin of her rosy cheeks with lights motions, smiled at her and uttered in a shaky voice, "Thank you for showing me your funny and vulnerable self. I promise to always cherish our light moments together and punch James in the face if he accuses you of messing with my mind. Although James is my best mate, I must admit that he is an immature, privileged git who doesn't appreciate the lucky stars life gifted him in a loving family and good friends enough and loves to come up with a good conspiracy theory concerning Slytherins most of the time. I hope that he will accept my brooding self and support you and your friends in your aim to make Hogwarts into a welcome society for everyone.

"Merlin, I'm aware that we Marauders with our cruel pranks, out-right bullying, and cocky behavior are one mean group that turns life into hell for many people. If I'm totally honest, although it must seem that Hogwarts is my Wonderland where I can get away with murder, bask in the admiring glances of air-headed groupies and boost my self-created image as the reckless, Quidditch-obsessed party-animal, I feel lonely, miserable and self-disgusted at myself most of the time. I'm not stupid and know that I make Hogwarts into hell for many people and that my superficial admirers would dump me like a sack of potatoes if they knew that my self-confidence is near zero, my self-loathing near ten and my love for partying near one in a scale from one to ten fifty percent of the time. Hell, if they could get a glimpse at the depressed boy lying sobbing in his bed muffled by a Silencing Charm to not disturb the sleep of his best friends or the frustrated boy throwing a Trashing Spell at a mirror in the boy's bathroom to not see his pathetic visage, they would certainly mock me or treat me like a broken, fragile boy who needs to be fixed. Hell, some of the airheads might even think that they could heal me with their love like a hurt little bird. I'm glad that you stand by me without giving me the feeling of being someone to laugh or dote at. I promise you to join your squad and start fighting for an open-minded, welcome Hogwarts."

Sirius whispered his last words in a bearly audible way, caressed her cheek gently and gazed at Serena with a fiery look in his grey eyes. Serena blushed slightly but decided to let him touch her face. Merlin, she was far away from being a touchy person and months ago, she would have punched Sirius Black in the face if he even dared to caress her cheek as if he cared for her. But she sensed that he needed to feel close and accepted by his fiancée. He needed the skin-to-skin contact and the reassurance that she felt comfortable under his touch and in his company. She couldn't push him away, hurt his feelings and throw them back to square one on their new path of healing and friendship. And if she was totally honest she liked that he touched her so gently and effortlessly, being real and vulnerable with her. His touch didn't hurt her or let her flinch away in an attempt to shelter from a cruel prank or evil blow, on the contrary, it sent a warm feeling through her veins. But Serena didn't want to dwell too long on the meaning of her conflicted emotions. Seeing the fire in his eyes, she realized that Sirius really wanted to change. He wanted to be an active member in turning Hogwarts into a better place for all students. And if Serena knew one thing for sure it was that a passionate, ambitious and determined Sirius Black would be a real plus for their project.

Thus, she cracked a loop-sided grin at him and expressed in an excited tone, "I can't wait to gift you our membership pin and send you through Hogwarts with your arms full of posters and tape. I hope that you love to recruit members in a snake-badger-hybrid outfit, for we have decided to show our Hogwarts unity in blending together our House animals." Sirius' eyes widened in shock and he looked at Serena as if she had grown a second head. Seeing her expectant, hopeful face, he decided to swallow his Gryffindor pride and demonstrate his desire to be a better person by wearing this ridiculous outfit. Everyone had to start at a low point and if he needed to be the mascot of a unified Hogwarts for a month, he would aim to be it as his most charming self. Hence, he cleared his throat and replied with a smirk, "Hell, Reg and you are really creative in bringing Hogwarts together. Although I must admit, that I'm not a fan of looking like a fantasy beast and recruiting members for your clubs at Hogwarts, because I feel self-conscious of turning myself into a carnival spectacle, I will gladly wear an eagle's head if it means that I can attract more attention to your clubs. And seeing you in an eagle-badger outfit with a lion's head will be a happy sight for my sour eyes. I'm sure that you will look lovely with a lion's head and we will be the most admired engaged couple at Hogwarts. I bet that you will be the cutest lioness Hogwarts has ever seen." Sirius chuckled mischievously and tucked an unruly strand of ebony hair behind Serena's ear.

His fiancée let out a short laugh and slapped his hand away playfully. "I will let you know, Mr. Smartass, that I would undoubtedly be the fieriest lioness Hogwarts has ever seen, thank you very much. I wouldn't be some cute little cub that couldn't defend itself. But alas, your fantasies of seeing me as a lioness will be a pipe dream for now, because I only meant to pull your leg. We haven't thought about dressing up or turning into hybrids of our house animals till now, but your reaction shows that my jest might have some merit. Nevertheless, thanks for joining our fight for a fairer and happier Hogwarts. Your willingness to slither through the corridors at Hogwarts as a snake-badger-eagle hybrid shows me that you will put your whole enthusiasm and charm into our project. And I promise you to always have an open ear for your sorrows and jokes. You can contact me in your darkest and happiest hours if you want to have someone around to talk to.

"I promise you to never make fun of you and be patient with your whole personality improvement and finding peace with yourself project. I already have an idea of how we can contact each other without being noticed by others at Hogwarts. I will work it out in the next few days and present a solution to you. Never forget that you don't need to put on a fake mask whenever I'm around you. We are in our engagement together and we can only make it work if we trust each other, build a friendship between us, work on being happy, self-confident and healed human beings and are honest with each other. You will never have to suffer alone, Sirius." Serena ended her pep talk on a somber note and squeezed his hand lightly. She could see that Sirius was overwhelmed by his emotions, for he squeezed her hand back tightly, gazed at her with watery, grey eyes and mumbled in an emotional voice, "Thanks for granting me this second chance and believing in me, Serena. I promise to be a better man, deal with my issues and stop being a bullying git. I want to be a fiancé worthy of you."


End file.
